Protect and Serve
by SamJackBC
Summary: Gail takes on a new assignment as a favour to her brother; but this job may just turn her life upside down.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**

 **So, I started writing this back around Easter time. I flew through ten chapters or so, which is the longest thing I've ever written, then I just ran out of steam. I abandoned it. Then we got the new series of Rookie Blue, and of course no more Holly (boo!). So I didn't return to it until I found it on the hard drive a couple of weeks back. I read it through and suddenly got all enthusiastic and wrote a few more chapters. I figured this time, I'd actually post it and see where we go!**

 **Anyway, this story is kind of AU, as it's a different way for Gail & Holly to meet. Timeline wise though, I have kept Gail's history the same and she meets Holly at the same time in her life - so we're set halfway through season four, after Perik and Nick, but before the shootings. Who knows what will happen next in my universe?! I'm hoping nobody gets shot.**

 **The first three or four chapters are beta'd, because my lovely friend helped me out. However, she got busy with real life so after that I'm on my own - if anyone wants to volunteer and give me a hand then that would be brill, drop me a line.**

 **I'm not Canadian, I try to convert my language but apologies again if I accidentally go terribly, terribly British on you and it wrecks the characters.**

 **Lastly, just so we're all clear on this; these aren't my characters. However, I have borrowed a few lines from the show here and there; not to make my fortune but just for a giggle. They can have them back when I'm done, no worries.**

 **Cheers all, hope you enjoy. :)**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Protect and Serve**

Officer Gail Peck of the Toronto Police Force had spent years avoiding family connections at work. It was easier that way. People had certain expectations of a Peck. Gail had lived up to them in some respects, pushing through her Rookie years with a single minded approach and a certain level of game playing. She was now at the stage where she was more comfortable with herself, her role at Fifteen Division and where she was heading. Gail had even started to believe that most of the cops she had come through the ranks with now ignored her connections. She couldn't hide her white shirt parents, particularly Superintendent Mom, or her Detective brother but she had been pretty successful in downplaying them. But when said brother had just marched through the station and was standing right in front of you, whilst your fellow officers abandoned their work in favour of gawping at the situation, it was kind of hard to do that.

"I need your help." It was a simple request, but Gail Peck wasn't really the type of girl to grant a simple answer to anything and Steve had already annoyed her with his grand entrance.

"You're a big boy now Steve, you can tie your own shoelaces," she said flippantly, avoiding her brother's gaze.

Steve stood to the side of the desk that currently had Gail's paperwork tossed haphazardly all over it and waited patiently, the only still presence in amongst all the hustle and bustle of Fifteen division. He looked down at his younger sister. Gail was sprawled in the chair, swinging it gently back and forth as she waited for her report to load up on the computer screen in front of her. She circled the mouse irritably, in the vain hope it might help the machine go faster. Her eyes seemed to be following the whirling cursor on screen as if she considered her response an end to the matter, and was merely waiting for Steve to go away. However, the elder Peck had spent too many years living under the same roof as Gail; he knew that her curiosity would eventually get the better of her.

Gail bashed the mouse against the desk a couple of times and sighed loudly when the egg timer blinked back at her. As the chair swung to her left, she lifted her feet and let it drift round to face where Steve was waiting for her attention.

"I really need your help," he said, his voice grave. Gail looked up at him, noting the tension in his shoulders and his straight face. She knew that look; her brother was serious. She raised her eyebrows at him, querying whether she should be worried. Steve tipped his head in the direction of the interrogation rooms and she stood, immediately following him into the nearest empty one.

"What's wrong?" she blurted out as soon as the door closed behind them.

"Nothing is wrong," Steve replied, sitting on the table placed in the middle of the room.

Gail shook her head; "Something is wrong," she said, "You never ask for my help." It was true. Gail and Steve were close; you couldn't grow up under Elaine Peck's rule without becoming allies, but their relationship was based around more of a watchful eye than anything else. They didn't call upon each other for advice or a shoulder to cry on. Gail couldn't imagine ringing Steve to talk through any of the problems in her life. She certainly hadn't during her latest disaster. Nick had come back into her life when she least expected it, and she had never planned on getting back with him. But he'd been charming and safe and reliable…until he fell for McNally whilst they were undercover.

The blonde had put her usual snarling face on things, not letting anyone know how much it had hurt. She never even told Steve what had happened, but somehow he knew. One night he turned up at the flat Gail shared with her colleagues, tequila in hand. As they went through the bottle he sat and listened as her rants became more offensive and emotional. When she crashed out in the bathroom, he put her to bed and then passed out on the sofa. That summed up their relationship; if one of the Peck siblings had a problem, the other one would simply appear. They could go for weeks without seeing each other unless they bumped into one another at work or in the Penny, yet they always had each other's back. It just so happened this was a fact of life, rather than something they had to ask for.

"Tell me," Gail said, not willing to wait for Steve any longer.

He kicked out the chair that was tucked under the table, inviting her to sit and Gail did so with frown.

"Do you remember the Kolarov case I worked on last year?" Steve asked. He shuffled backwards on the table which, alongside the pathetic conversation starter, Gail read as a sure sign this was going to take a while. She sat back on the plastic chair and scanned through her memory. Steve worked a lot of cases; Guns and Gangs wasn't exactly the quiet life.

"Was that the one where you had Taylor and Ingram undercover for months?" she queried. Gail remembered Steve being particularly stressed out because at one point they thought they had lost Taylor.

"That's it," Steve confirmed, nodding away. "They were looking at what we thought was a front for gun running, and turned up all sorts of other dodgy dealings; drug smuggling, protection rackets, prostitution…you name it, Kolarov was into it."

The details were starting coming back to Gail. Kolarov was an Eastern European gangster who had gained a foothold in Toronto through a number of coffee houses. The legitimate arm of his business enabled him to spread people throughout the city, and the gang members were behind several spates of petty crime and intimidation over a decade ago. As their influence snowballed, the seriousness of the offences did too. Steve had been put in charge of the investigation into a sudden increase in the number of a certain make and model of guns which had been seized across the city. They were standard Ukrainian army issue, but because the serial numbers were burnt off with acid, it was difficult to trace back where they had come from. Intelligence eventually led to Kolarov and Steve's team spent months trying to pin something directly onto him. The man himself had moved on however, and was involved in other schemes in several other cities. Money and fear were powerful motivators also, so his henchmen kept quiet whilst witnesses suddenly changed their stories.

"You didn't get him, did you?" Gail asked, trying to remember.

"No," Steve said with a grimace. "We couldn't get the direct evidence. Then Taylor thought he had been ratted out. He had to run and the whole case was at risk if we didn't move it. We settled for nailing several of the top boys and they all went to jail. Nothing stuck against Kolarov, but the fall out essentially meant he shut down most of his Toronto operations,"

"Good result then?" Gail said, not seeing where Steve was going.

"In a way. We cleared up most of the people involved in the Toronto side of things, but some of the leaders followed Kolarov out and settled in Vancouver. Apparently he has an equally charming cousin out there who he set up with. It was outside my remit of course, so I had to hand the case over once the trials were done," Steve told her.

"Bummer," Gail murmured softly, knowing how frustrated her brother would have been about this. She hated pushing off work to anyone else, and she wasn't even in charge of any cases. She could imagine Steve being incredibly pissed about handing over his hard work for someone else to have a crack at Kolarov.

The elder Peck pulled a wry face at her, knowing where Gail's thought train had gone. "Yes and no," he told her. "The case was picked up in Vancouver by Ross Stone…"

"Your old academy buddy!" Gail exclaimed, understanding why Steve wasn't cursing the loss of his case. Steve and Ross had gone through the academy together and had spent their rookie year at the same division. Ross had then taken up a job in Vancouver to be closer to his girlfriend of the time, but the two men had remained close and had both taken up the same specialism when they went through the detective rotation. Gail had teased Steve mercilessly about 'copying' his pal but Steve hadn't cared, saying that Guns and Gangs only took the best so it was no surprise the two of them went there.

"Yep," Steve confirmed, with a grin before continuing the story. "Stoney has kept me up to date ever since. I've been putting in some hours on the case in my own time, and his team has done some stellar work gathering evidence from all over the place to back up my theories from Kolarov's Toronto days. We were close to taking it in front of a judge and getting a warrant. Then we got an even better break,"

Gail sat back fascinated as Steve explained the story, but she still couldn't see what he was asking for from her. Apparently, one of Kolarov's most trusted lieutenants was a guy called Robak, a third generation Serbian who had taken the opportunity he had been handed when many of Kolarov's allies ended up in jail during Steve's operation. He was running the shipping side of things in and out of a warehouse Kolarov had registered under his coffee company name. Despite having no family ties to Kolarov, Robak had fought his way to the top of the organisation through a combination of brains and charisma tied in with a nasty, violent temper. From hatchet man to supply chains, he'd done it all and become something of a right hand man. There wasn't much he wasn't privy to.

But then Robak had made his big mistake. He'd started seeing a local girl, someone who wasn't part of the family. He'd gotten her a job on the legit side of the business, managing one of the coffee houses. Things had been fine, but as Robak became more important in the set up, he became more complacent. He let his girlfriend tag along when he was visiting the warehouse, and meeting people who could take Kolarov's interests forward. He even had her doing some of the paperwork. Worse still, he mentioned his boss by name. He might have gotten away with his carelessness, and the girlfriend might have stayed completely unsuspicious if his famous temper hadn't gotten the better of him. During a row about his strange working hours, of all things, he had lashed out and slapped his girlfriend. Of course, he had apologised immediately. He had been scared, contrite, ashamed and all the things that had made her take him back. But then it happened again. And again. And again. And then he broke her nose. The hospital knew at that point what had really happened to the broken nose they were forced to report as 'patient tripped whilst jogging' but without confirmation there was little they could do. Until the girlfriend turned up once more, this time with broken ribs. A young and earnest doctor referred his patient to the police and in a cascade of tears, the story of the abusive boyfriend came out. The girlfriend went to a shelter, and the police knocked on Robak's door. He denied everything. When the police went back to see the girlfriend and tell her this, they had to confess they didn't have enough to hold Robak just yet. They explained they were waiting for the doctor's report, but that she shouldn't worry as she would be perfectly safe here.

However, the young woman's fear was horribly evident and it was at that point she offered up a gem. What if Robak had been involved in something else he shouldn't have been, she asked? What if she could show them certain places, and certain documents and certain dates? Well, that was a different matter, said the officer in charge of delivering the bad news. Another statement was taken, and it seemed the girl was far brighter than Robak had ever thought. She knew an awful lot about Robak's business dealings, and by default, Kolarov's. Warrants were secured, multiple arrests were made and Robak started singing like a bird. Kolarov lawyered up and kept quiet, but the testimonies of Robak and his now ex-girlfriend were enough for him to be denied bail. It looked like Stone and his team were finally going to get their man.

"The trial starts in six weeks," Steve said as he came to the end of his story. "But we have a problem. Robak has been attacked in prison, and he's now drinking his meals through a straw. We don't know if he'll be fit to testify. And there have been credible threats made against the girl, so she is running scared too,"

"How credible?" she asked.

"Very. It started off small, but it's escalated. She's had bricks through the windows, poison pen letters…then someone messed with the brakes on her car. Ross can't prove anything against the few of Kolarov's guys that are still on the street, but we know he's behind it. The girl's evidence is crucial. If Kolarov can frighten her off, the case begins to look shaky,"

Gail made a face. It would be devastating for Steve and Ross to have come this close then have the case fall apart. "But surely he wouldn't be stupid enough to actually hurt her? He must know you're watching her and you're on to him?" she mused.

Steve rocked his head from side to side, disagreeing with his sister's assessment. "You'd hope so. But the guy is powerful and he's literally got away with murder over the years. This isn't the first time he's intimidated a witness; not even just when his own ass is on the line. He's pulled his buddies out the fire before by ordering a few well timed beatings. When Taylor was undercover, we thought he had turned one of the local henchmen into informing for us, and eventually taking the stand. When Taylor left, the guy went missing, and we never found out what happened,"

"Taylor had to leave," Gail said, remembering the panic that had spread through the station when Taylor had dropped off the grid. He had heard rumours of a traitor in the gang and that action was about to be taken, so he had run. Taylor stayed hidden for a day or two before contacting Steve's team. It turned out the rumours were about the guy he had tapped up, but Taylor's escape meant Kolarov made him as a cop, and he'd left Toronto soon after and moved to the States.

"He got a few threats," Steve said, by way of an explanation. "The brass thought it best,"

"Can't you hide your latest star witness too?"

"Yeah. We've had to put her into witness protection actually. She's not even in the country now," Steve told her.

"So that's good then, problem solved?" Gail said, confused. She had found the story of this case interesting, from a professional perspective and because she was secretly proud of Steve for being part of such a big collar. But she couldn't see why he was here talking to her about it and asking for her help.

Steve was already shaking his head. "Kolarov has gone a bit further. He's targeting her family now instead. Again, it's something he's done before and it's been a pretty successful tactic."

"Ok," Gail said, ticking things off with her fingers, "You're got a dangerous mob boss in prison, a battered gangster in hospital, a frightened witness in god knows where and a bunch of threatened family members back home here in Canada. All linked into this one case, which is coming to a head soon," she summarised.

"Yes," Steve replied.

"So, what's your point?" Gail asked, thoroughly exasperated.

"What do you mean, what's my point?"

"What's it got to do with me, Lunkhead!" she said, kicking the leg of the table under where her brother sat.

"Oh!" Steve exclaimed. "Yeah I'm getting to that, just thought you'd want the whole story," Steve knew that although Gail may appear to be unconcerned with much of the goings on around her, she was always watching and always listening. He continued with his explanation. "So, we're intercepting the witness's post obviously, and we found the threats to the family in there. There were photos of her parents and sister going about their day to day business with targets drawn across them and a couple of letters. Now we've spirited away the witness, we're thinking the family are even more at risk, so we're putting them under protection too,"

"All of them?" Gail asked, thinking of the manpower.

"The parents and the sister. There isn't much of an extended family. Ross has got the parents covered in Vancouver, team of six round the clock, but the sister lives here in Toronto. He has the budget and numbers to send three guys out here, then he's asked me to sort out two more -"

Gail suddenly saw where her brother was going and interrupted sharply. "No, Steven. No way!" she said firmly, glaring up at him.

"Come on, Gail…" Steve tried to talk over his sister, but she wasn't done.

"No! I'm not doing it! I'm a cop, not a babysitter. Get the protection squad on it," Gail snarled.

"There's no budget for them! I need a couple of regular cops, this is a favour, not an official assignment," Steve explained.

"In which case Frank will never go for it anyway. He's not going to give you two cops for over a month," she replied, smugly.

"I've already spoken to him. He said I can take two officers out of shift rotation and move them onto this," Steve grinned, pleased he was one step ahead of Gail's objections.

"This is not my job. This is not even anything I'll be good at," Gail retorted. "Get a couple of rookies on it! They're used to standing around doing nothing," She didn't like where this was going.

"I need a woman. Ross's guys are guys, and so it would be better to have a woman on the team for the subject's sake. Fifteen's rookies are all guys this year," Steve reasoned. "And also, you've done the VIP Protection training course! You're perfect for this!"

Gail stood up and let the chair skitter backwards away from her as she faced her elder brother, "Firstly, you're a sexist pig. And secondly I only did that course because your Mother made me! She thought I could land a fancy job protecting politicians and schmoozing with the top brass!"

"Doesn't change the fact you already know the basics, so you're one step ahead of the other cops we've got…." Steve said, not backing down under Gail's glare.

"Get McNally on it. She loves this sort of shit. She'd read all the manuals before the weekend and make Nick be her practice dummy," Gail complained, hands on hips.

Steve caught Gail's stare square on with his own eyes. He lowered his voice, and said earnestly, "I need someone I can trust, Gail. I've been building this case for years, I can't let it slip now. I need you. Will you help me?"

Gail groaned internally. Her brother was asking her straight out for help now. She knew she couldn't turn him down. But several weeks of babysitting? Probably more once the case was on trial as they'd have to wait until the witnesses took the stand. What an absolute bore off.

"Fine. Count me in. But you owe me big time!" she said, punching Steve's shoulder lightly. He caught her wrist and gave it a quick squeeze.

"You're a life saver, Gail. So, you're with me this afternoon until the end of your shift. Frank has agreed it already. We'll go look at the file on your new best friend; good news is she is out of town for another two days, so we pick her up when she gets back. Ross's team arrive tomorrow; you can meet them then and they'll brief you. They work in witness protection, so they'll lead. Only one question left – who else do we want from Fifteen? McNally or Price?" Steve asked.

This just gets better, Gail thought. Spending the whole of this assignment with the woman who screwed her over with Nick, or Miss Disney herself? "Nash," she said, trying it on.

"I'd love to get Traci on board, but no can do," Steve said. "McNally or Price?"

"I don't care," Gail replied. "You choose." She turned away from Steve and moved towards the interrogation room door. Her brother followed her and just about caught the door she dropped in his face as she walked through and back towards her desk. Gail began to shuffle the papers into some semblance of order, putting her work aside ready to be handed over to whoever took on her cases whilst she was off on this stupid assignment. She rammed the paperwork into the open file and snapped it shut before grabbing her jacket and turning to face Steve, ready to go.

"So, tell me about this sister then? What's she like, where does she work…where am I going to be spending my precious time?" She asked Steve as they moved off in the direction of his office.

"Well funny you should ask," Steve told her. "She actually works for the division. She's the new forensic pathologist; Dr Holly Stewart. So actually, you're going to be around here a hell of a lot still…" he continued to stroll down the corridor, without noticing Gail had stopped walking in shock.

It really does get better and better, she was thinking. Not only do I have to spend my time minding some joe public, she turns out to be one of the weird dead people doctors and works with the police force. Which meant there was every possibility their paths could cross again, even when the case was over. "Fantastic," Gail muttered under her breath, before trotting after Steve.


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later, Gail found herself stood in the home of Dr Holly Stewart, waiting to be introduced to the woman who had just flown back from her conference in San Francisco. Gail's new boss, a dour middle aged guy named McGregor, had picked the doctor up at the airport and filled her in on the situation on the way home. Gail and Andy had spent the last two days meeting the team and going through some intensive briefings, so they were also fully up to speed on how things would happen over the next few weeks. She had already plotted the murder of Staff Sergeant McGregor at least twice; the guy was a nit-picker extraordinaire, and Gail just wanted to get on with it. They were currently at an uneasy truce after he had made her run a weapon drill eleven times in a row. Gail snapped and told him she wasn't taking gun handling advice from a professional child minder. She was already missing Frank and Oliver.

Thankfully the other two members of the team from Vancouver seemed ok. Scott Sanderson was a tall, rangy guy with ruffled fair hair and a languid grin plastered permanently across his face. Jacob Chen was quieter, but exuded an air of calm confidence and Gail had already discovered his buzz cut and broad shoulders came with a sharp mind that missed nothing. Also here today was the tech guy, Niall something or other. Gail missed his surname and hadn't bothered to find out when the guy barely said a word all day but had spent three hours busying himself by setting up surveillance equipment round the exterior of Holly's place, and sorting out new encrypted phones for the team.

As Dr Stewart chatted with Andy, Gail noticed McGregor was leaving her introduction till last, and idly wondered if that was consequence of their earlier disagreement. She used the time to study the woman she was about to be spending a lot of time with. Dr Stewart wasn't really what she'd been expecting. She was younger for one thing, about Gail's age and didn't exactly look like a doctor. She had long dark hair that had been swept up and knotted at the back of her head, exposing a slender neck and tanned skin. She was around Gail's height and looked athletic, moving with an assured grace across the room. Gail had assumed she was getting a geeky, spindly little women, with giant glasses and a nervous tic or two. She guessed the stereotypes were wrong sometimes…even if they were amusing.

Dr Stewart also had what Gail could only define as a killer smile. It had been the first thing she'd noticed; when the doctor arrived she had thrown a crooked grin at the welcoming party camped out in her kitchen, and Gail couldn't help it when the corners of her own mouth turned upwards to return the smile. She'd never really understood the term infectious grin before, but the brunette's smile was wide and easy and reached all the way up to sparkle out of her eyes.

Gail's scrutiny was interrupted by McGregor's loud voice. "And this is Officer Peck, another of our local police representatives,"

She nodded a greeting; "Doctor Stewart,"

"It's Holly, please," came the response, the same as it had to all of the other officers in the room. Gail took the hand that was offered, and was pleased to find Holly had a firm handshake. She met the other woman's eyes and noted how dark they were. Holly smiled again, and Gail felt a warmth spread through her before realising she was still holding the doctor's hand. She let go, embarrassed, but Holly didn't appear to have noticed.

"Officer Peck will be partnered with Officer Sanderson on the night shift," McGregor explained, continuing his description of how Holly's life was going to be monitored over the coming weeks.

Gail caught Andy's grimace at this statement, and had to supress a laugh. The team had agreed the shift rota in one of their meetings a couple of days ago. McGregor had detailed they would be working twelve hour shifts, one pair on nights, one on days with McGregor himself dropping in on both shifts and covering each officer's days off. It was a tough schedule, but the Vancouver boys had explained that by the nature of the job, when Holly was safe and secure one of the officers could take a rest even when on shift. When McGregor had asked which of his female officers wanted days, McNally had called it before Gail even managed to open her mouth.

The blonde had been furious about the thought of working non-stop night shifts for the considerable future. But when McGregor had continued to drone on about the arrangements, both Toronto officers realised that Dr Stewart's job would mean the day shift had a few tricky circumstances to navigate. With cops from Fifteen in and out of the labs all day long, it would be difficult to explain why McNally was hanging round there all the time when she had been pulled off the usual shift rota. Either McNally would be spending every day in a surveillance van parked outside the morgue, or they needed a cover story.

Even Chen had winced at the story McGregor had concocted; something about inter-departmental cohesion and building relationships across the law enforcement teams, yadda yadda yadda. The long and short of it was, all of Fifteen thought McNally had been assigned to some crazy PR stunt of shadowing the Forensic Pathologist for a month. She was mortified. The explanation for Gail's absence from shift was easier; the division had simply been told she was on a highly classified undercover assignment that meant she was working away from the station until further notice.

"It's good to meet you all," Holly said, looking round the room and the police all muttered their agreements, feeling a little like strangers pushed together on a table at a wedding. "I'm just going to grab my stuff from the car, then would anyone like tea? Or coffee?" she asked.

McGregor was quickly onto that one, "Officers Peck and Chen will get your luggage, Doctor. We don't want you going outside unless it's strictly necessary,"

Holly blinked in surprise. "Right. I'll make the tea then, I guess," she said.

"Excellent," replied McGregor. "We have a lot to go over, Dr Stewart; your schedule for the coming week, some basic rules, the equipment we've put in place here and a few more things. Peck, Chen – go get Dr Stewart's luggage from the car," he ordered, as he followed Holly into the kitchen area.

Gail rolled her eyes and followed Chen outside. They took a good look around Holly's street as they left the house; now the doctor was home, they were on high alert. Chen popped the trunk of McGregor's sedan and hauled out a suitcase. "Can you get that thing?" he said, pointing at the red case left in the car. Gail scowled, but lifted the case out and pulled the trunk shut.

"What did you think of the doc then?" Jacob asked.

"She seems alright," Gail offered, unsure what to say about someone she had met for about two minutes.

"Friendly. And cheerful,"

"I guess,"

"It won't last," Jacob observed, with a resigned tone to his voice, "Soon enough she'll realise exactly how much we're going to intrude on her life. She'll resent it and fight us all the way,"

"Well you're a little ray of sunshine, Chen," Gail replied, sarcastically.

"I've seen it a million times, Peck," the stocky officer said, as they re-entered the house. "I'll drop your stuff upstairs Dr Stewart!" he yelled through to where Holly was sat with McGregor in the kitchen, before stomping up the stairs.

"Thank you! And it's Holly!" she shouted back at him.

McGregor leant over and spoke in a conspiratorial tone that Gail only just overheard, "It's probably better if the team refers to you by your title, Dr Stewart. It keeps things professional," he told the surprised woman.

Gail snickered at the look of confusion on Holly's face. McGregor really was full of it. "Where do want your lunchbox, Holly?" she called out, using her name deliberately.

"My what?" Holly asked, standing up to look at what the officer was holding. She grinned, and Gail knew she had noticed the intentional use of her given name.

"Your lunchbox," Gail reiterated, holding the red case above her head.

"It's a forensic evidence kit," Holly told her.

"Right," Gail said, blankly.

"You know, it's got all my tools for work in. Scalpels, hinge lifters, acetate, entomology scales, UV light, evidence bags, desiccant packs…"

God, this woman could talk, Gail thought. She'd have to put a stop to that now, or she would be getting her ear chewed off every shift. "Why are you saying all these words?" Gail asked, expecting the other woman to shirk away from her pretence of weary disinterest, delivered in a practised deadpan tone.

However, Holly simply raised an eyebrow and shot straight back; "Wow. Someone's not up on their medical jurisprudence,"

Gail's jaw dropped, and she gave a small shake of the head. She felt a tinge of annoyance at being outwitted, but as quickly as it came, the feeling disappeared and was replaced by one of amusement and respect. This doctor was going to be a pain in the ass, she knew it. Yet something inside her was insisting that she somehow liked this woman already and it could be interesting getting to know her a bit better. She was surprised at this; Gail Peck wasn't usually concerned with getting to know people. Anyway, whatever this strange thought was, she certainly wasn't going to let the doc see that she had secretly enjoyed their snappy exchange. "Whatever, Nerd," she replied, casually.

"Officer Peck!" McGregor growled, shocked at the childish insult, and Gail heard Andy snort from her position perched on the sofa. But Holly laughed and waved it away.

"It's fine. I keep my kit just down there near the front door…?" she gestured in the relevant direction and trailed off the end of her statement to turn it into a question as she looked at Gail.

The blonde caught her meaning, and supplied the answer, "Gail. Gail Peck,"

"Thanks, Gail," Holly said, before turning her attention back to McGregor's list of do's and don'ts and ignoring the man's look of irritation at the exchange of names.

The tech guy chose that moment to say his first words in several hours, coughing to get their attention. "Right. I'm all done. New phones are on the kitchen counter, they're all programmed. The equipment is set up; cameras, motion sensors, microphones and alarms..."

"Cameras?" Holly interjected.

"All round the perimeter," McGregor explained, "and internal ones like that one above the door," He pointed at the small black camera screwed into the wall above the door.

"I don't think I'm very comfortable with having cameras in my home, Sergeant McGregor," Holly said with a frown. Gail felt a nudge in her back and heard Chen whisper, "Here it comes!"

"I assure you that they are necessary, Dr Stewart, and they will assist us to protect you," the older man said.

Holly turned to look at the camera hovering above her front door before rounding back to face McGregor. "I understand you have a job to do, but I really don't see how filming my house and yard is going to help?"

McGregor looked aggrieved at being argued with but at that point, Sanderson chose to intervene. "Holly, it's not our intention to invade your privacy or your home, believe me," he said sincerely. "The cameras outside help us to monitor any activity, so we can keep these four walls as safe as possible. I'm sorry, but this situation is going to disrupt your life and there's no way round that. We want to minimise the disruption though. So if we put all this stuff outside and focus on the boundary, we can make sure your home is completely safe and that you can relax here, no matter what else goes on in the day. Is that ok?"

Holly considered that explanation for a moment but then nodded, appreciating the young officer's honesty and earnestness.

Sanderson smiled, and offered a small concession; "The ones inside are just a last resort really. You'll have an officer here at all times. We could agree to only turn them on when you're out and at night?"

"Where are they all?" Holly asked, suspiciously.

"In all the rooms downstairs, but nothing upstairs. We don't want to violate your personal space," McGregor assured her.

"And you'll keep them off when I'm at home?" Holly repeated Sanderson's offer, wanting to be sure.

McGregor and Sanderson both nodded vigorously.

"Alright then. Thank you," Holly agreed and the older officer visibly relaxed.

"Ok, so that's settled. Now, let's get organised for tonight people. Niall, can you show these four the surveillance van set up before you leave please? Sanderson, then I want you to walk Peck and McNally through a perimeter check – familiarise yourselves with the place. Dr Stewart, you and I have a couple more things to look at here and then I'll let you get on with your evening," McGregor listed their orders clearly, and the group stood and followed the tech guy out of the door.

An hour or so later, Gail was sat at the kitchen island with Sanderson. Chen and McNally had left for the day, and McGregor was outside manning the surveillance van. Sanderson was regaling Gail with some ridiculous story of using a tech van to chase a suspect through Vancouver, which she wasn't sure whether to believe or not. They were interrupted by both their phones buzzing on the surface in front of them. Gail frowned; nobody had the number apart from the team, and it was unlikely one of them would ring already.

Scott picked up his phone and read the display. "Looks like the Doc is on the phone. Want to listen in?" he asked.

"What?" Gail asked.

"Listen to the call. Push the usual accept button, and you'll be linked in to her phone. Don't forget to mute yours though,"

"What!?" she asked again, "We can do that?"

"Sure. Weren't you listening to the tech brief?" Scott grinned.

"No. I'm not an IT geek," Gail said with an incredulous stare.

"Yeah I could tell by the way you crashed the computer in the van earlier. Anyway you didn't think these were just regular phones, did you? They've got a few extra features. And Holly's phone is bugged and linked into ours. Whoever is on shift can pick up her calls as they come through," he explained.

"Isn't that kind of unethical?" she questioned, feeling uneasy about invading Holly's privacy like that. The doctor was upstairs, unpacking after her trip.

Scott shrugged. "Some of the best intelligence we get on these assignments is from the subjects themselves,"

"So that big speech earlier about minimising disruptions was complete bullshit," she stated, cynically.

"No. I meant the sentiment, just glossed over the reality a little. But sometimes you've just got to tell a lady what she needs to hear," he replied, with a wink. Gail shook her head at him, still a little taken aback by some of the power they now had over this woman's life.

"Well, I'm listening in," Scott told her, picking up his phone. "Because you can bet your ass McGregor will be, so we may as well hear it first hand,"

Gail frowned, but curiosity got the better of her so she collected her phone and pressed the accept call button before muting her handset. She raised her eyebrows when she realised she could hear both sides of the conversation, exactly as if she was on the call herself. She and Sanderson must have missed the beginning of Holly's conversation whilst they were discussing the morals of eavesdropping. It seemed as though Holly had filled her friend in on her current situation.

" _But why?"_

" _Lis, I told you I can't say,"_

" _So you have a house full of cops, twenty four seven but you won't tell me why? Is it to do with a case?"_

" _Um...kind of,"_

" _Well are you safe?"_

" _That's really the point of police protection,"_

" _Don't be smart with me, Holly. If you're in trouble because of that damn job of yours, I want to know,"_

" _Look, I'll be fine. This is a precaution more than anything. Don't worry!"_

" _You'd better be. Honestly, this is what I've been saying about this pathology obsession of yours. You should have gone into plastics with me. I don't get any of this shit,"_

" _Don't start Lisa. I've had a pretty stressful day."_

Gail could hear the weariness in Holly's voice. It sounded like this was a common argument between her and her friend.

" _Hmm. But you know I'm right. So, what are they like, these cops that are going to be stalking you? Because from what I know of cops, they're all arrogant assholes. I couldn't hang out with them, that's for sure."_

Gail and Sanderson both pulled a face at that statement. Gail had never met this Lisa woman, obviously, but after thirty seconds of hearing her drone on, she already knew she didn't like her. Why on earth Holly was friends with someone like this, she had no idea.

" _Lisa! I work with cops every day don't forget. Ninety nine percent of them are great. And this bunch seem like good people, I think we'll be ok. Actually, one of them is kinda hot too..."_

At that, Scott grinned and preened comically for Gail, pouting his lips and flexing his muscles. Gail shoved him off his bar stool. "She's probably talking about Chen, you idiot," she hissed.

"That bowling ball head? No way. Besides, Jakey boy is married and I am young, free and single!" Scott declared. Gail rolled her eyes and tuned back into Holly's conversation. Her friend Lisa was giggling.

" _Holly Stewart telling me someone is hot! Well it's about time you got back into the dating game! You have been single for far too long!"_

" _I am not getting back into the dating game Lisa!"_

" _Why not? Ask them out!"_

" _I can't hit on one of my protection detail! That would be beyond tragic,"_

" _I've known you meet people in stranger circumstances..."_

" _Right, I am hanging up on you before you start dissecting my exes,"_

" _At least one of them should have been dissected. But fine, you can tell me about this hot cop of yours tomorrow night. Still on for dinner?"_

" _Ah, about that. I might not be allowed out to play tomorrow. I've already asked the boss man about it, and he says I can't come,"_

" _What? But we always do Foo Garden Chinese food on Wednesdays!"_

" _Exactly. Apparently I have too many routines. And that's not safe,"_

" _Fucking hell Holly. That is ridiculous!"_

" _I know, but I'm working on it!"_

" _Well even if you can't do tomorrow, you'd better be coming out next week. Rachel's birthday, remember? You can't miss that,"_

" _I'll try. I haven't mentioned that yet,"_

" _Be there, or I will come and bust you out of Holly jail myself"_

" _Ha! Ok, John Dillinger. I'm going. Speak to you later in the week,"_

Gail and Scott put down their phones as Holly said goodbye to her friend.

"So much for your theory, Sanderson. Not much intelligence there," Gail stated, grimacing at the other officer.

Scott simply grinned, nodded his head a few times in a cocky fashion and pointed at his own chest. "Hot cop!" he said, happily.

Gail pointed at him too. "Idiot," she said again, before getting up and going in search of coffee. As she turned away from Scott however, she smiled a little. She couldn't help but like the guy, goofy though he was and was glad she had been partnered with someone it seemed she could get on with. Coupled with the fact that Holly also seemed cool, Gail decided this babysitting gig could be better than she thought it was going to be.


	3. Chapter 3

Twenty four hours later, Gail decided she had probably spoken a little too soon. Holly had lost her battle with McGregor over her weekly Chinese with her friends, and she wasn't too thrilled about staying in. Scott and Gail had thought she'd gotten over it when she had told them she was going to cook instead, but another argument had ensued when Holly told them she had to go to the store to pick up a few things. Sanderson had asked her to write a list and one of them would go instead, but Holly had insisted she wanted to go.

"Scott, this is crazy. It's a ten minute trip to buy a few things. What's the worst that can happen?"

"I'm sorry, but no can do. Either one of us go for you, or we all go, which will be a longer job because Gail and I will have to clear the area before we can let you out of the car," Sanderson explained.

"Come on!" Holly replied, clearly getting frustrated. "I don't need two police officers to take me to the store!"

"It's early days yet. We don't know exactly how much of a threat you're under, so to start with we have to be ultra careful,"

"At the store?" Holly asked.

"Everywhere," was Sanderson's simple reply.

Gail watched the exchange with interest. Holly was being polite for now, but she could sense the irritation building. She was quite up for a trip to the store, if nothing else it would be a chance to give some of the moves they'd practised over the past couple of days a whirl. She also kind of agreed with Holly; how much danger could there be right now? Holly had only just returned from San Francisco, anyone following her would have made a move there and if they were planning on Toronto, then they would surely need a few days to get ready. But Sanderson was playing exactly by McGregor's rules; no trips out unless absolutely necessary.

"So am I going to be a prisoner in my own home until this damn trial?" Holly demanded.

"No. But I've got to be honest – you'll be spending more time here that you're used to," Sanderson said gently.

"Great. Wonderful!" said Holly, slamming the mug she was holding down into the sink. She pulled a magnetic notepad and pen from the fridge and started scrawling a shopping list as she muttered under her breath.

Sanderson caught Gail's eye and gave her a rueful grimace and a shrug. The boys from Vancouver had warned Gail how people under protection often fought against it. Gail could understand that completely, she would hate to have every moment scrutinized. It was how she had felt in her rookie days; everyone at the station was watching and following her every move, just to see the Peck kid come unstuck. She shrugged at Sanderson, and motioned at him to continue talking to Holly. Sanderson mouthed a sarcastic thank you, before approaching Holly and propping himself next to where she was leant against the kitchen island, writing her list.

"Look, I'm sorry about this, I really am. But our job is to keep you safe. That's all we want and I'm sure that's what your sister would want too," he said.

Holly rounded on him immediately. "Don't tell me what Kate wants. You've never even met her! Who knows what she wants, because nobody has spoken to her since she went into hiding!"

"And that's all about keeping her safe. She knew that. It's too bad that you've got caught up in this as well, but she couldn't help it and she would want us to protect you," Sanderson tried to persuade Holly, but it seemed the mention of her sister had only increased her anger.

Holly stood up straight to face Sanderson, dropping the pen on the counter where it fell to the floor with a clatter. "Oh really? Let's ask her. Ring her, Scott. Because actually, I would really like to talk to her!"

"You know we can't do that. She's deep undercover; I don't know where and even if I did, you couldn't contact her," Sanderson told her, keeping his voice level. However, Gail could see the tension in his shoulders.

"Yeah I know. But all that means to me is that for all we know, my sister could be dead by now because these psychopaths might have found out where you guys took her. So watching me get my groceries from the store could be a complete waste of time; if she's dead, there is no trial. And you won't be worried about my safety then, will you?" Holly's voice cracked slightly as she spoke about the danger her sister was in.

Gail noticed the how upset the other woman was getting, and decided to step in.

"Your sister is fine, Doc," she drawled from her seat at the table and both Sanderson and Holly turned to look at her.

"How can you possibly know that?" Holly asked in a frustrated tone. "No contact, that's your rule!"

"Because you're right. If something happens to your sister, then there is no trial and you're not under threat any more. We would be pulled out of here quicker than you could pack your lunchbox. As long as we're here, you can bet that your sister is fine. If we leave then yep, it's probably not good news for Kate," Gail explained, with what she thought was reassuring logic.

Holly stared at her, the blonde officer's words settling like a lead weight in her chest. She wasn't happy about having the police here, but if them leaving meant that Kate had been hurt, then she couldn't bear to think of it. She felt the tears stinging at her eyes as the frustration and worry of the situation overwhelmed her. Holly turned back towards the kitchen island and slid the notepad sideways to Sanderson.

"There's your list. I'll be upstairs," she said, pushing past the sandy haired guy and virtually running up the stairs to escape the two officers.

Gail and Sanderson watched her go and the kitchen fell silent for a beat before Sanderson's voice broke the tension.

"Well, that was a little insensitive,"

Gail looked at him incredulously. "What?" she asked.

"You pretty much told her we're only here till her sister gets killed," Sanderson pointed out, cocking his head toward Gail and wincing.

"I was trying to help!" Gail defended herself, though now that Scott mentioned it, she probably could have worded her reassurances a little better.

"Yeah, way to go," Sanderson said.

"Get lost, Sanderson. You weren't exactly doing a sterling job either,"

Sanderson laughed. "Thanks pal! It's good to know my team mates are there for support and encouragement!"

Gail frowned at him, and raised her fist in the air. "Go team," she said sarcastically.

"Anyway," Sanderson said, and he grabbed the list from the surface in front of him. "You've got some shopping to do,"

"I don't think so," Gail replied, lifting her eyebrows.

"I'm the senior officer here!" Sanderson said, as if that settled the matter.

"We're the same rank,"

"Yeah but you've never done protection before. So that makes me senior,"

"I don't think so," she repeated. "But if you were, with your skills, you'll make an easy transition to personal shopper,"

"Rock, paper, scissors?" he asked, holding out his fist towards Gail.

She grinned. She was a champion rock, paper, scissors player. It was all in the mind. Gail extended her fist too, and they counted to three in unison before making their move.

"Yeah!" Gail exulted, as her scissors beat Sanderson's paper.

He pouted and whined something about best of three, but Gail was feeling far too smug to bother with beating him again.

"Fine. But I'm shotgunning the van tonight then! I'm not staying in the house now you've upset the doc!" Sanderson told her. He grabbed his coat and keys, picked up the list and made his way out of the door before Gail could reply.

Whatever, she thought. It was clear Sanderson didn't have a girlfriend...if he had been used to being around women, he'd know that Holly would likely shut herself up in her room this evening and whoever was in the house wouldn't have to bear the brunt of her misery anyway. And van duty sucked!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

By the time this assignment was finished, one thing was for certain thought Gail. She was going to be the world champion of Spider Solitaire. She swiped across her phone, flipping the cards over once more. Gail had been sat at the kitchen island for the last couple of hours, give or take fifteen minutes worth of perimeter checks and security walks around the house. Sanderson had been to the store and back, and he was currently tucked away in the surveillance van. Every half hour or so he'd radio through and annoy Gail with his inane chatter but that was the only distraction she'd had apart from this stupid card game. There had been no sign of Holly but just as Gail ran out of moves on her latest game, a creak on the stairs alerted her that someone was present.

She swung round, and saw Holly walking slowly down the staircase. Gail watched her silently, trying to gauge the doctor's mood.

"Hey," Holly said as she came to a halt on the bottom step.

"Hi," Gail replied. She started at the other woman, noticing that she had washed the makeup from her face and tied her hair back. Neither action hid the slight red tinge round her eyes. Holly ran her fingers back and forth over the top of the newel post at the bottom of her staircase, and avoided Gail's eyes for a beat. She sighed and then looked straight at the police officer.

"I owe you an apology. You and Scott," she said.

"Yeah you do," Gail answered, not wanting to make this easy. She got why Holly was pissed off, but none of this was her or Sanderson's fault.

Holly nodded, acknowledging Gail's directness. She came over to sit next to the cop. "I'm sorry. You guys are just doing your job, and you don't need me giving you hassle,"

"Tell that to Sanderson, not me. You were yelling at him," Gail shrugged.

"I will. But I need to apologise to you too. Like I say, you're just doing your job and I really appreciate that you're watching out for me. I of all people know what a great job the police service do; I see it every day. And there's nothing worse than when members of the public are causing you trouble when you're trying to keep them safe," Holly said.

"None of us want to stop you living your life you know," Gail told her. "But you're going to have to get over the fact you can't always do what you want during this situation,"

"I know. I was just frustrated. I'm not used to having people telling me what to do. Today was hard; I couldn't do my morning run, I had Jacob fetching my lunch and telling me where I could go in the lab, I couldn't go for dinner with my friends and then when Scott said I couldn't go to the store, I just flipped. I'm sorry and it won't happen again," Holly promised.

"Yeah well it had better not. Because Sanderson is a nice guy, but I'm a bitch and believe me I'll yell right back at you," Gail said, expecting Holly to shirk away from her threat.

However, the brunette just looked steadily back at her, meeting the fierce glare. "Fair enough," Holly agreed, and the two women nodded their mutual understanding of one another.

"Apology accepted then," Gail said, "Are we done here?"

Holly studied the other woman and smiled slightly. "You're kind of blunt, you know that?" she asked, a little taken aback at being so casually dismissed after her sincere apology.

"Yeah. I am," was Gail's simple reply. She raised her eyebrows and shook her head slightly, not seeing why Holly thought that was a problem.

"I thought that earlier too, when you were talking about my sister," Holly told her.

Ah, thought Gail, that's why. "Yeah, about that. I maybe could have been a little more tactful there," she attempted to justify her earlier frankness, squirming a little under Holly's gaze.

"It's fine. I appreciated your honesty actually," Holly replied. "McGregor keeps telling me that I'll be fine and so will Kate and my parents. At least you didn't make promises you can't keep,"

"No. I wouldn't promise you that. But I know there's a lot of people that will do their best to make all that happen," Gail stated.

"Thanks, Gail," Holly smiled and she reached over to squeeze Gail's forearm. Gail looked down at where Holly's hand rested on her, unsure what to make of someone who invaded one's personal space so readily. At least Holly hadn't gone for the hug. That was a bit much from someone she'd know for two years, let alone two days. The brief gesture was soon over though, as Holly got up and clapped her hands together.

"So, dinner? Did you guys pick up my list?" she asked.

"Yeah. Sanderson put it all in the fridge," Gail told her.

"Great thanks," Holly replied, strolling over to the fridge. She threw the door open and Gail could hear her muttering away to herself as she sorted through the contents. Gail got up and cleared her throat slightly to get the other woman's attention.

"So, I'll just be in the other room. Let you get on with things," she told Holly.

Holly stuck her head around the refrigerator door. "What?" she asked.

"I'll be out there. Out of your way," Gail said, waving a thumb in the direction of the living room.

"You can sit where you like, Gail. Don't move on my account," she replied, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Gail caught the puzzled look and thought Holly was trying to be polite. "Don't worry. We don't want to hang around you all the time when you're in your own place. McGregor says that we should stay in the background, so that you feel more comfortable. You can just pretend we're not here," she explained.

To her surprise, Holly laughed at that. "Gail, if you guys are going to be in my home then I don't need you skulking around in the corners, that won't make me 'more comfortable'" she said, waving the air quotes with her fingers as she tossed ingredients out on to the bench. She gathered some more things and then shut the fridge door with her foot. "When you're here, you're a guest. It's fine. Stick around...you can even help cook if you like?"

"Yeah...no. I'm not much of a chef. I'd ruin your dinner," Gail told her truthfully. She frowned, not sure whether to take Holly up on the offer to sit with her in the kitchen. She didn't like McGregor's instructions about staying out the way, as this assignment looked like it was going to be boring enough as it is without tiptoeing around somebody else's house. But equally she didn't want to spend her evenings making idle chit chat with someone she barely knew. That wasn't really her thing. And it seemed Holly was a talker.

"Our dinner," Holly corrected. "And that's fine, you're on washing up duty then,"

That sentence jarred Gail out of her musings. She had been debating whether she could be bothered to sit and have a conversation with the other woman, and yet here Holly was offering to cook for her. Damn these nice people. "You don't have to cook for me, Holly," she said, pushing aside the guilt.

"Like I say, you're a guest. And why cook for one when there's plenty to go round?" Holly replied easily as she started to chop the vegetables.

Gail smiled her thanks. She couldn't exactly go and hide somewhere else if Holly was cooking for her. Small talk it was then, she decided. But she'd better to take a few minutes to prepare herself for that. Holly might seem easy to talk to, but it was only a matter of time before Gail pissed her off. "Ok. I've got to do a quick perimeter check, then I'll be back. Don't run off," she said, retreating towards the door.

"Yes Boss!" Holly called after her with a mock salute.

Once she had done her perimeter check – and found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary – Gail sat herself back on the stool at Holly's kitchen island and watched the other woman sort out a quick pasta dish. She observed in silence however, unsure of how to start up the small talk she had committed to earlier.

Holly gave the sauce a practised stir, and turned over the chicken in the pan. She wiped her hands on a tea towel and stepped back from the stove, content to leave everything on the go for a few minutes. She looked up and saw Gail watching her. The two women held each others' gaze for a moment, before Gail looked away.

"My sister isn't a bad person you know," Holly said quietly.

Gail lifted her head to meet Holly's eyes again. "Nobody said she was,"

Holly sighed. "I know. But you all think it. You've read her file, right?" she asked.

Gail shrugged, not sure whether she should admit that she had. Kate Stewart's file was part of the case briefing – as was Holly's. The doctor's bio read like a model citizen; full of academic achievements, career success and glowing personal endorsements. Her younger sister's profile wasn't quite as shining however. Kate had been something of a wild child, with a few petty cautions for drunken escapades and one for possession. She had had numerous jobs, had lived all over the place and was forever in minor debt. Gail's impression had been that the young woman was a bit of a drifter rather than genuine trouble, but rap sheets never told the whole story about someone.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Holly. "The thing is, everyone who knows about this situation thinks the same thing...how did she get herself into that mess? How did she get let herself get fooled into thinking Martin was a good guy – and when she knew he wasn't, why did she stick around?" Holly stood there, mindlessly folding and refolding the towel and Gail could virtually see the cogs whirring around her mind.

"Sounds to me like you've been giving those questions a bit of thought yourself," she said perceptively, watching Holly carefully. The brunette bristled at first, as if she was going to argue but then took a deep breath and settled herself.

"A little bit," she admitted. "See, Kate and I aren't really alike. She's a dreamer, you know? She bounces from job to job, usually little hippy cafes or bars and she finds the new love of her life every few months. Then when it ends, she's utterly heartbroken and swears off love forever, until the next one appears," Holly laughed. "I'm not that idealistic, I guess,"

Gail nodded, letting Holly continue her story. She sensed the doctor needed to get this off her chest.

"She might be a dreamer but she isn't stupid and she isn't a crook. When this all broke, the cops interviewed me and they asked me over and over why Kate didn't realise Martin was bad news earlier. They thought she was in on it to start with. But she wasn't. She just got caught up with the wrong guy, and then was too scared to do anything about it," Holly said, leaning back against the kitchen counter and swilling a beer round the bottom of the bottle.

"We've all been there," Gail murmured, thinking back through some of her own disasters.

"I just want you to know that it wasn't her fault. Because I know you don't want to be here, protecting me when you could be doing your real job. And it's because of Kate you have to, so I can imagine what you think of her. When she first told me everything that had happened I couldn't understand it either. Why she hadn't gone running the first time he hit her, or the first time she heard something dodgy. But it's not because she's stupid, or weak. She just got overwhelmed. And she never asked for help," Holly shook her head sadly, and Gail could see that the fact her sister didn't come to her when she was in trouble hurt her.

"I don't think she's stupid or weak. I think she is incredibly brave. She's going to put a lot of dangerous people behind bars with what she's doing, and you should be proud of her," Gail said, sincerely.

Holly met the police officer's eyes and searched for any hint of guile in that statement but Gail stared straight back, her blue eyes clear and steady.

"I am," she stated strongly. "I met him, you know. I met Robak a few times when he was dating my sister and I never saw it at first. I can't say we got on like a house on fire but I didn't dislike him either. He just seemed like an average guy." Holly trailed off, going over her feelings from all those months ago.

"I've met a lot of criminals, Holly. I've met psychopaths and petty thieves and honestly, with a few exceptions, there's not usually any way of telling them from everyone else," Gail said, thinking back to a few signs she had missed over the years and grimacing at the thought.

"I should have seen it though. Not from the start maybe, but when he started to hurt Kate, I should have noticed. I'm a doctor for fuck's sake," Holly said, her voice betraying the anger she felt. She chugged back the rest of her beer, and placed the bottle on the side with a little too much force, judging by the loud noise it made. "I didn't notice till I had to pick her up from the hospital with a broken nose. And then I pleaded with her to walk out on him, but she didn't. Every time he touched her after that I lost the plot with her, telling her she had to leave. But the more I argued, the more she pushed me away and then it got to the point where she wouldn't tell me anything. Not until she ended up in the domestic violence shelter. I should have supported her more..."

"It's not your fault either Holly Stewart," Gail said clearly. "It's not Kate's fault she got hurt and it isn't yours you didn't know. It's Martin Robak's and he is going to pay for it when he goes to jail,"

"I hope so," Holly mused. "That guy has done some awful things,"

Gail looked hard at Holly, noticing the shudder that passed through her. She had been told that Holly wasn't involved at all in the case, but judging by her reaction, she knew something of Robak's business. "Holly? How much did Kate tell you about Robak?" she asked.

The shadow that passed across Holly's face as she met Gail's eyes was the clue, but Holly paused for a moment or two before answering in a low voice, "Everything. A couple of months before he beat her half to death for the last time, she told me everything she knew,"

It was Gail's turn to shudder. If Holly knew all the details of Robak and Kolarov's dealings, then that could only increase the threat against her. The gang wouldn't go after her solely to silence Kate, but also to tie up another loose end. "Who knows that she told you?" she asked.

"Just the police. I had to be interviewed too. When Kate told me, she said I was the insurance policy. She was scared that Martin would kill her and she hadn't been to the police yet. I wanted to go, but she swore me to secrecy," Holly told her.

Some insurance policy, thought Gail. Anything Holly had heard from Kate would be inadmissible in court as it would be classed as hearsay, but if Kolarov's gang found out their secrets were spread wider, they might decide the close the loop just in case. However Gail decided to leave her thoughts unsaid, as Holly took a deep breath, stepping forward to poke aimlessly at the dish cooking on the stove. It seemed Holly knew exactly why the knowledge she possessed could be a dangerous thing.

"You must be pretty close with your sister," Gail said, sticking to less worrying topics.

Holly wrinkled her nose and made a noise that could mean yes or no. "We were. Growing up we were always close, but I think as adults we maybe grew apart a bit. Like I say, we're different people. I always wanted her to decide on what she doing and where she was going and she would always tell me to chill out," she laughed and shook her head at some personal memory before asking Gail "What about you? Have you got sisters or brothers?"

"A brother. He's older. He's a cop too," Gail told her.

"Are you close?"

"He's a dick," Gail said shortly and rolled her eyes, but when she saw Holly look a little taken aback at her less than flattering description of Steve she had to elaborate. "We've got each other's backs. I don't see a lot of him, considering we almost work together, but he watches out for me. He helps me avoid my Mom at least," she explained, which made Holly laugh. "Steve's the golden boy though, whereas I'm the black sheep so you know, he can't hang out with me too much in case I drag him down to my level,"

Holly's amusement disappeared and she looked pensive once more. "I sometimes wonder if Kate feels like that. She once said that I was a lot to live up to. I worry that's maybe why she stuck with Martin for so long. It was the first time I'd seen her with a decent job, and our parents were so pleased for her,"

"You worry too much, Lunchbox," Gail said, with feeling. "Not everything is your fault you know. You might be a hot shot doc, but it doesn't all revolve round you,"

Holly's jaw dropped, and she blinked in surprise. "Thanks, Gail!" she said, sarcastically, throwing the tea towel at her.

"Just calling it like I see it," Gail shrugged.

"Yeah, don't I know it Miss No-Nonsense," Holly replied, her eyes wide at being called out like that. She had been turning over what had happened to get Kate into this mess in her mind for weeks, and the more she thought about, the more upset she was that her sister hadn't asked for help earlier. And then anger had turned to guilt, dragging up everything from their childhood, all those tests she'd passed and Kate had flunked, all the times she'd had to pull her sister out of trouble. She'd started to believe that her success had put too much pressure on her younger sister, but with one sentence, Gail had shown her how ridiculous that assumption was.

Holly was already learning that the cop wasn't one for the social niceties of holding back but she also realised that it wasn't arrogance that made her be so blunt. Gail was very perceptive when she cut through a conversation like she just had. Although Holly also sensed she used her frankness to protect herself – attack is the best form of defence after all. She watched the blonde swing her barstool gently from side to side, tapping her fingers against the surface of the kitchen island and noticed the fixed stare and the set shoulders. "You're right," Holly said suddenly, catching the other woman's attention. Gail grinned and nodded, but the smile fell at Holly's next words, "But that also means that maybe your brother isn't responsible for the chip on your shoulder,"

"I don't have a chip on my shoulder," Gail immediately responded, denying the accusation.

"Family dynamics, hey?" Holly shrugged off her own assertion with an easy smile that immediately defused Gail's irritation. "They're funny. Who'd have siblings, given the choice?" she joked.

"Not me," Gail grouched, and they both smiled at each other for a moment until Gail broke the silence. "But only children? They're weird people, right?"

Holly laughed at the look of suspicion on Gail's face, and flicked off the heat under the pans. "Definitely," she agreed, and began to serve up dinner.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - Hey guys, short chapter here! Thanks for everyone who has read so far, and sent me some feedback on the reviews or by PM. I appreciate it. To answer a couple of questions, I have written about 17 chapters so far, and I'd guess the whole thing will have 25. Yes I will definitely finish it, and yes I will definitely post all of it! It is a little bit of a slow burner, but I like to think it has enough going on to keep you interested :)**

 **Cheers,**

 **Sam**

Over the first few days of their assignment, Gail had settled into an easy routine. She would arrive at Holly's around seven pm to start her night shift and so far spending the next twelve hours there hadn't yet felt constricting...much to her surprise. It helped that Holly was easy to get along with and talk to, as their conversation that first night had proved. Sanderson had come in to grab some dinner soon after their talk and when Holly had casually asked him if he had any siblings, his response that he was an only child had caused gales of laughter from both women. Scott was bemused but took it in good grace and later told Gail that he was glad she was getting on with their charge as it would make the job easier on everyone. Gail didn't know about that, but after spending a night in the surveillance van she knew she much preferred being in the house. She had been bored out of her skull. She and Sanderson had agreed to take it in turns to man the van, but the officer from Vancouver had already done more than his fair share. Gail pressed him to let her take her turn…as much as she hated van duty, it was only fair, but Sanderson had explained he was studying for his detective rotation and could get plenty done out there. She had been surprised to hear he was pushing for detective already though, as the rangy officer was a year or two younger than she was and seemed to enjoy these protection details. Yet another example of someone with more drive and ambition than herself she supposed.

Still, if it meant she spent more time out of the van, Gail was definitely a big supporter of Sanderson's application. Hopefully she could continue getting along with Holly as she had to admit that she was enjoying spending time with her. It usually took Gail a while to get to know people; she was guarded around strangers and didn't have the easy rapport that the likes of Traci and Chris could strike up. But Holly was interesting and funny and sort of cool in a very nerdy way. She liked the way the doctor kept her on her toes by firing Gail's challenges straight back and not being fazed by Gail's cynicism. Holly's laid back approach kind of reminded Gail of Nick. He was another one that met her bite with a lazy smile and quick response, though he had always seemed a little confused by her whereas Holly had that twinkle in her eye that suggested she knew exactly where Gail was coming from.

Holly had adapted to the presence of the officers now, and there had been no repeat of her anger that first night. If anything, she seemed to like having some company and was always the first to strike up a conversation with Gail or Scott, even when they tried to follow McGregor's instructions to stay aloof and out the way. She was already teasing Gail gently and was able to fend off the cop's barbs without taking any sort of offence. Some of Gail's friends had taken years to learn how to do that, but it came naturally to Holly and the two women had settled into what was fast becoming an early friendship.

Last night had brought a new facet to their tentative friendship however, when Gail had found Holly's collection of classic board games. It turned out the doctor was a big fan and something of a collector, but she didn't just buy new versions; she went out of her way to find older editions of the games. Yesterday the two of them had shared an epic battle over the Monopoly board despite Gail's assertion that they would need to apply a huge inflation rate to the fake money contained in the 1970's game set to make it more "realistic". Holly had queried whether owning half of London was ever a realistic scenario in Gail's mind, but they had agreed to differ on that one. It was difficult to play with Gail having to get up every half hour to do her security checks or touch base with Sanderson, but the police officer eventually triumphed when Holly landed on her Oxford Street hotel. Gail refused to take Holly's shirt as rent payment, having already won her glasses, watch and first born child and demanded the cold hard cash that Holly didn't have. The doctor had been forced to declare herself bankrupt much to Gail's glee…although strip Monopoly was a concept the blonde hadn't thought of before and made a mental note to return to another time.

This evening however Holly had demanded a chance to gain revenge, and the two women were currently trying to decide what would be their battleground.

"Operation?" Holly said, full of hope.

"No way. Could you be more of a cliché, Doc?" Gail asked rhetorically. She held up another pristine game that looked older than she herself. "Clue?"

Holly stared at her. "So the doctor wanting to play Operation is a cliché, but the cop suggesting Clue isn't?"

Gail shrugged. "I'm not on the murder squad. Maybe it would help advance my career. Mother would love that," she mused.

"Veto. How about Scrabble?" she asked.

"No nerdy science words allowed?" Gail looked at her hard, suspicious of Holly's motive.

"I can't promise to not use a scientific term, Gail! That's a lot of words you're taking off the table!"

"Well I'm ok with normal language. But no Latin or chemicals or anything like that," Gail countered.

"Done," Holly agreed and they shook hands on it before pulling out the game and setting up.

As they played, Holly watched the cop from under her eyelids, confident Gail was focussing on the game and wouldn't notice she was under scrutiny. The blonde was frowning down at her letters, shifting them around on the stand as she looked for a good option. Her blue eyes shone with intensity and she casually blew a strand of hair away from her face.

Holly couldn't help but stare; Gail fascinated her. When they had first met, Holly had immediately noticed how beautiful the blonde was. She'd even told Lisa that one of the officers assigned to protect her was hot. But the more she got to know Gail, the more she realised that Gail Peck challenged her and Holly liked that. The unexpected twists and turns of Gail's character were fun, but she was also intrigued by the quieter, more vulnerable side of the police officer. The immediate attraction she had felt towards Gail was still there but it was now accompanied by an impulsive desire deep in the pit of her stomach to spend more time with her. She was trying to ignore it, she really was, as Holly knew no good could come of this. She didn't even know if Gail was gay; and even if she was then she was still off limits. The woman was only here to do her job; she wasn't a friend or a pick up from a bar or even a blind date. If Holly had met her under different circumstances then she probably would have pursued the attraction, but that wasn't going to happen here. All Holly had to do now was to convince herself of that and stop checking out the woman she had to spend twelve hours a day with. It should have been a simple task when she was asleep for most of those twelve hours, but here she was again watching the curve of Gail's lip as she softly blew away that strand of hair. Dammit, Holly thought. You've got it bad, Stewart.

Gail laid out her letters on the board and sat back to grin at Holly, before noticing the doctor was kind of gazing off into space. "Hey!" she demanded.

"I'm sorry?" Holly replied, bringing her attention back.

"What are you staring at?" Gail asked.

Holly coloured slightly; she hadn't realised she was being that obvious. She dropped her chin to avoid making eye contact with the woman sat opposite her and stared down at the board.

"That's not a word," she stated, spotting the way out of this awkward moment and grasping it with both hands. She pointed at the six tiles Gail had placed and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah it is," replied the cop.

"Geekish? You've made that up!" Holly argued.

"What? You of all people should know that word!" Gail pointed out with a shrug.

"Use it in a sentence,"

Gail opened her mouth and closed it with a snap as she sought to answer the test.

"Exactly!" Holly said with satisfaction and lifted her hand to push Gail's tiles off the board.

The blonde moved swiftly to grab the hand before Holly could sweep away her double word score. "Holly showed her geekish tendencies by challenging Gail's excellent choice of word," she recited, with a sweet smile.

Holly froze as she stared at Gail's fingers wrapped around her own. When the cop noticed the direction of Holly's gaze, she let go immediately, thinking she had overstepped the mark. Holly felt a strange sense of loss as the cool fingers slid away from her own. The brief contact had caused her stomach to flip and she couldn't help the smile that curled at the corners of her mouth. She knew right then that this attraction wasn't going to disappear any time soon and it was going to cause her trouble, but for that split second, she didn't care.

"Whatever, Gail. Get the dictionary," she said softly, pointing towards the bookshelves over by the television.

Sure enough, the Oxford English Dictionary proved Holly right, and much to her disgust Gail was forced to remove the last three letters from her effort. She complained about the lack of a proper dictionary and mumbled something about the ever evolving nature of language.

"You know, technically the rules state you should lose your turn completely if you attempt an incorrect word. You're lucky I'm allowing you geek," Holly told her with a grin.

"Well how very geekish of you to know that too, Dr Stewart," Gail said, with false admiration.

"I think you mean geeky," Holly replied.

"I can't actually say what I mean, because I am here in a work capacity," was the response from one very annoyed police officer. "Just take your turn, Stewart."

Holly laughed and laid out her tiles with a flourish, rubbing salt in the wounds by hitting the double word score Gail had been aiming for. "Read them and weep," she exulted, scrawling down her score on the scrap of paper they were using to tally up.

"Sexy." Gail read out.

"Yep!" Holly grinned back, pleased with herself.

"Right, fine – you're allowed to describe me, but I can't describe you. I see how this game works!" Gail gave an exaggerated shrug of her shoulders and rocked back on her chair to emphasise her disengagement in the game.

"Well it wasn't quite my top choice, but I didn't have the letters for cocky or stroppy," Holly fired straight back.

Gail's jaw dropped and she thumped the chair legs back to the floor. She snorted a quick laugh, then Holly winked at her and it was the sheer cheek of that gesture that made Gail feel the need to win this battle.

"Well that's good to know," she started, casually shuffling her letters and deliberately not looking at Holly. She picked up her glass and sipped the last of her juice.

"What is?" Holly asked, still smirking at her own teasing.

"That if you were going to pick a word to describe me, sexy would be in the top three!" Gail said, returning the wink that Holly had thrown.

The smirk fell straight off Holly's face and her mouth hung open slightly as she started at the cackling blonde. She shook her head slightly in an attempt to shrug off the surprise. Was Gail flirting with her? Surely not. She tried to speak but couldn't form words and so coughed slightly to style out her silence. Just then the shrill tone of her phone cut through the room, and rescued her from having to come up with a smart retort. She grabbed the phone from the table and answered the call as she walked away into the kitchen. "Hello, Doctor Stewart speaking,".

Gail gave herself a mental pat on the back. "Saved by the bell Stewart," she mumbled at Holly's retreating form. She debated listening in to the call as her own phone had just vibrated in her pocket but judging by the way Holly had answered the call it sounded like it was work related. Gail already felt guilty about eavesdropping on Holly's calls. After the one she had overheard on her first day, she had only listened to one more which was basically Holly bitching to her mother about not being able to go for her usual morning run. But when Holly and her mom had started talking about their fears for Kate, Gail had felt like an intruder. She knew Sanderson felt the same, and was ignoring calls from Holly's mom, although he picked up when it was one of her friends. McNally had refused to eavesdrop from the start of course but she would guess McGregor played things by the book and listened to everything.

But Gail wasn't interested in the phone call; she was having plenty of fun teasing the other woman. Gail had noticed the blush spread across Holly's face at the light flirting, and kind of found it endearing. She wanted to see that blush again, and as soon as she thought that, several other ways of making Holly blush flashed through her mind…not all of them clean. Gail found herself getting a little warm. Where had that come from, she asked herself. Holly was a beautiful woman obviously; Gail had noticed that from the start. But it was quite a step from noticing how attractive someone was on a purely aesthetic basis, to imagining them flushed and naked in your bed. Gail swallowed hard and gave herself a mental slap to put those thoughts firmly out of mind. Clearly it had been too long without sex for her if she was going to start fantasising about women now. But she did have to admit, Holly was the first person who had caught her attention in any way, shape or form since Nick. She figured that was why her feelings had run away from her somewhat.

As she waited for the doctor to return, Gail amused herself by replacing Holly's tiles with the trickiest letters she could find in the box. There couldn't be many words with J, Z, Y, B, W, Q, and F in them she thought to herself and even Holly the genius would struggle to find one.

Gail was startled out of her mischief making when she heard the front door open. She jumped out of her chair and her hand was on her weapon before Sanderson poked his head round the dividing wall.

"Scrabble? Really?" he asked, surveying the scene in front of him.

"It's educational," Gail told him, and threw the letter D at him.

"She's been called in," Scott said, ignoring the tiny missile that bounced off his chest. "Someone has stumbled across a body in the woods that they need her to look at, so we're tagging along of course,"

"Oh goody," Gail answered, not looking forward to the prospect of spending a few hours in the dark and damp woods. Although it would be a change to the norm at least.

"Well you're the lucky one Peck. Fifteen aren't on the scene, so you can be front and centre, not even hidden in the van! Bring a coat, its freezing!" Sanderson laughed at Gail's shiver and disappeared back towards the front door. Gail went to follow before stopping suddenly. She bent to retrieve the tile she had flicked at the other officer. She carefully placed it back in the box, thinking she wouldn't want Holly to lose any of the pieces, as she looked after these games so well. Although when she noticed the score sheet and realised Holly was beating her soundly, she figured it wouldn't do any harm to lose that and so stuffed it in her pocket.

"Ready, Peck?" came the shout from Sanderson, and she abandoned the half-finished game to join him and Holly at the door, picking up the doctor's kit on the way.

"Got your lunchbox, Doc," she smirked. "Lead the way Sanderson!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Can't sleep?" Gail asked the woman in front of her as she took her usual place perched at Holly's kitchen island. It was the early hours of the morning, and they had just gotten back from the body in the woods. Or skeleton rather, as from what Gail had seen there wasn't a lot left. It had taken Holly a while to do her tests out in the field, and then they had taken the bones back to the lab for closer inspection. Luckily it seemed the guy had some sort of metal plate which Holly had managed to get a serial number from and give the detectives a name. Once she'd got that, she decided to pack up and leave the full examination till tomorrow much to Gail's relief. It had been freezing standing around on guard in the forest and she only just felt like she was warming up.

Holly pottered through her kitchen cabinets and pulled out three mugs. "No," she answered. "I'm still a bit wired to be honest." She grabbed the milk from the fridge and poured it into a pan for heating.

"Busy night I guess," Gail reflected. She herself was fine, but she was completely settled into the rhythm of night shifts and would have been awake anyway. Holly had been up for twenty hours though actually didn't seem too exhausted.

"It wasn't too bad," Holly replied, "That was a pretty quick one. If it hadn't been for the metal plate, we would still be in the lab trying to figure out who that guy was,"

"Thank God for badly broken bones saving us from all-nighters then," Gail said quite seriously.

Holly smiled. "You get used to them in med school, but it's rare I have to pull one now. And I won't have to go in until the afternoon tomorrow, as I've been working half the night," she told the cop. Holly gave the milk a good stir before leaving it and fetching some chocolate powder from another cupboard.

"McGregor will like that; a change of routine," Gail laughed and Holly pulled a face. McGregor had tried to stop her taking the call out earlier that night when Sanderson had phoned to tell him. Holly had point blank refused to listen though, saying it was one thing having this situation screwing up her life but quite another when it affected her work. Surprisingly, she won the battle. Gail suspected it was the fact he didn't want the murder squad sniffing around and querying why they couldn't use the best pathologist in the department.

"Do you think he'd let me go for a run in the morning? It would be later than usual," Holly mused.

"I doubt it. You're not exactly in his good books after persuading him to let you out tonight," was Gail's reply

"McGregor doesn't have anybody in his good books!" Sanderson announced as he strode through the door and plonked himself down next to Gail, just in time to receive the steaming mug of hot chocolate that Holly slid across to them both.

"I'm sure he's a different guy out of work," Holly said diplomatically as she sipped her own drink. She raised her eyebrows at Gail, who gave her a doubting look.

"No, I've met his wife. She's says he's a grumpy old sod too!" was Sanderson's reply.

"He's married!?" both Gail and Holly said in unison and in equally incredulous tones.

"Yeah, they've been married twenty odd years I think,"

"Well there's hope for me yet then," mumbled Holly into her mug, but both officers heard her.

"Nobody special hanging around at the moment then Doc?" Sanderson asked casually. Gail winced, feeling sure he was about to try and flirt with Holly, given the phone call they had overheard on their first day. She hadn't seen any signs of Holly being attracted to Scott since that though, but maybe she was just good at hiding things.

"Not really, not right now," Holly answered, with a sideways look at Gail. Gail noticed her slight flush and grinned; Holly must be expecting a pick up line to be imminent too. However, to her surprise Sanderson just nodded and left it at that.

"What about you Scott? Do you have anyone back in Vancouver?" Holly asked.

"Nope. Young, free and single, that's me!" he replied, giving himself a mock salute. Both women remained silent, so Sanderson expanded, "It's too complicated with the work I do. I can be away for weeks at a time, or on strange shift patterns. None of the girls I've dated have been willing to put up with that,"

"Is that why cops always date other cops?" Holly enquired.

"Like Andy you mean? She's dating one of the detectives at Fifteen, right Gail? And wasn't she with one of the officers before that?" Sanderson asked, his face scrunched up as he tried to remember the details of whatever gossip he'd heard.

Gail groaned internally. She really didn't want to go into details about McNally and Nick and the incestuous mess that was Fifteen Division. She drained her mug of hot chocolate and placed it carefully back on the bench, keeping her eyes trained on the cup.

"I couldn't care less who McNally is dating, Sanderson," she firmly stated as she stood up. "I'm doing a perimeter check, if you want to come with. Or you can carry on gossiping like an old woman,"

Sanderson laughed, not in the least bit offended and oblivious to her icy tone. "Oh gossip, every time. Wrap up well Gail!" he advised. Gail made sure she flipped him the bird as she left the kitchen.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Gail re-entered the house fifteen minutes later, she found Holly on her own, methodically wiping down the kitchen counters. "Hey," the brunette said quietly, when she noticed the door swing open.

"Hey," Gail replied, blowing on her hands and rubbing them together to ease the sting caused by coming into the warm house from the cold outdoors.

"Do you want another hot drink?" Holly asked, even though Gail could see she had cleared everything away.

"No, I'm good thanks. It's 3am Holly, you should get to bed," She told her.

Holly waved her hand dismissively. "I will soon," she said.

Gail shrugged. It was up to Holly if she wanted to stay up half the night. "Where's Sanderson?" she asked.

"He's in the office, doing some studying. He said it's your turn in the van today," came the response. Gail grimaced, but couldn't argue. She headed towards the door, but before she could leave, Holly spoke again. She threw the cloth she was using into the sink and turned to face Gail square on. "I'm sorry Scott bought up Andy's love life like that. I don't think he knows what happened,"

Gail froze and glared at the other woman. "And you do?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice low.

Holly had the good grace to look embarrassed. "Andy told me," she said, "but not the details, just the basic outline," she hastened to add when she saw Gail's face drop even further.

Like that mattered, Gail thought to herself. McNally shooting her mouth off again, wrapped up in her world where people cared about other people's business. Gail was embarrassed enough by the whole situation, without McNally telling the whole planet. It was one thing that all her so called friends at work knew that she hadn't been good enough for Nick and had made him look elsewhere. She'd learnt to suffer the secret looks and whispers, which were always stuck somewhere between pity and the opinion Gail had got what she deserved. But Holly was new, she was a blank slate as far as Gail's past went. She had thought that maybe they could be friends without the humiliation of Holly knowing all of Gail's past screw ups. It seemed McNally could ruin that too. The woman had quite a talent; Gail had to give her that. "I'll punch her in her loud mouth when I next see her," she half said to herself.

However Holly clearly heard, and looked taken aback at the threat of violence. "I asked," she admitted in a worried voice, wondering how much trouble she was willing to get herself into in order to save Andy from getting socked in the mouth. "I mean, not because I was prying or anything. But things seemed a little strained between you two when I've seen you together, so I just wondered. You know, if there was a problem or anything," she garbled, trying to justify her actions. She had actually had a brief moment when she wondered if maybe Gail and Andy had had a thing together, and the atmosphere between them was a result of it ending badly. Or maybe that was a fantasy? Either way, she wasn't going to tell Gail what had prompted the question.

"You could have asked me. I suppose she told you that she didn't mean it? That her and Nick were all a big mistake?" Gail asked coldly.

Holly shrugged and tried to tread carefully, "She told me how sorry she was. That she missed your friendship, but she knew she had let you down. She seemed pretty sincere,"

Gail pulled a face, "I'm sure she did," she said. She folded her arms across her chest and leant back against the wall, not looking at Holly. The doctor saw the swirl of emotions crossing the blonde's face, and suddenly realised that what she was seeing wasn't anger, but shame.

"It happened to me too, you know," she said casually, moving to sit at one of the bar stools.

"What did?" Gail asked, curious at the change in conversation.

"My ex left me for a friend of ours. A girl from the gym, of all places! We met her at the same time and they got on really well, but I liked her too. Considered her a friend. I'd actually encouraged them to hang out, thinking it was good for us to have separate interests. I felt like such an idiot when I found out," Holly explained ruefully. It was a long time ago, and she had moved on but she still remembered how stupid and blind she had felt when her girlfriend had confessed she had fallen for someone else.

"That's the thing," Gail blurted out without thinking. "I was an idiot. I should have seen it coming," She shook her head and her own stupidity and also the way she had just confessed it to Holly.

But the doctor just shrugged. "Understandable. But even if you'd seen it, what would you have done? You couldn't have stopped it. And you couldn't have pulled him back to you."

"I know," Gail sighed, "and I don't want to either. I am totally over Nick, I really am. I just hate the fact everyone knows that I was a shitty girlfriend and made him love someone else,"

"If you're over him, then it was for the best right? And people can think what they like," Holly told her.

"I guess," Gail said and they lapsed into silence, both thinking about how life could surprise you. Gail couldn't believe some guy had run out on Holly too. What a douchebag.

Holly shook herself out of her reverie and attempted to steer the conversation on a lighter path, "So, nobody has caught your eye since Nick then? Or are you with Scott on the perils of being a police officer and trying to date?"

Gail stiffened a little then stretched her arms as she pushed off the wall, trying to keep her response to the question casual. She would have answered no immediately if the question had been asked yesterday, but couldn't help but remember the sudden flash of attraction she had felt for Holly earlier that evening. Holly spotted the delay, and back pedalled quickly. "Sorry. You don't have to tell me, it's none of my business. I just thought, well, we're friends right? I know you're here for work, but I kind of feel like we could be friends," she said.

The police officer looked at her with an unreadable expression and Holly berated herself internally for overstepping the mark somehow. "Or not," she amended herself quietly and went to get up from her seat to leave Gail alone.

"No," Gail said quickly, noticing how uncomfortable Holly had become. She hadn't meant to ignore the question, but she didn't really know how to answer. The only person she has been remoted interested in since Nick was Holly herself, but that wasn't a romantic thing. It was a momentary spark of physical interest born out of a lack of recent intimacy. Yes. That's what it was. She nodded firmly before stating; "I mean, no not really, there isn't anyone at the moment. I don't think." Way to give a clear answer Peck, she grumbled at herself. She sought to gloss over the glaring ambiguity of her response with an answer to Holly's other question.

"But yes, you and me? We're friends. If you want to be," she said in a voice that sounded unconcerned but Holly recognised it as simply shy.

Holly grinned at the answer. "Then as your friend, it's my duty to tell you that you'll find someone soon, I'm sure. Someone awesome!" she told Gail, and she did so sincerely. Holly had no doubt that the quirky woman in front of her would find someone amazing; if she just let herself do so. The more she got to know the officer, the more the crush which she thought was a passing phase had grown. Gail was fascinating. She was however, straight. Ever since she had found out about Gail and this Nick guy, that was a fact Holly kept having to remind herself of. Holly's thoughts were interrupted by the woman in question thumping down onto the chair opposite.

Gail didn't know what possessed her, but she felt the sudden need to explain herself to the other woman, and make her understand what the problem was, "I don't know. See Holly, I'm like a cat. I'm very good at climbing trees, but when I get to the top I don't know what to do…I want to get down but I don't know how to do that, so I create an emergency situation to get out of them,"

"Of the tree?" Holly asked, puzzled.

"Of relationships," Gail clarified with a frown that suggested that she thought that analogy should be obvious.

"Ah," murmured Holly. She wasn't quite sure what Gail meant, but in the interests of their burgeoning and recently declared friendship, she thought that she should give a sage response to that strange comparison. And get something off her chest. She gave a deep breath and decided to go for the confession. "Yeah, I used to be like that. But it turns out I didn't like men," she began, trying to look as if he was staring at the oven clock but secretly watching Gail out of the corner of her eye.

"I don't think I like men either," Gail sighed.

"No, I mean I'm a lesbian," Holly stated, and felt the familiar lump of trepidation rise in her throat when she said it. She hated that. Holly was entirely comfortable with who she was, and hadn't hidden her sexuality in a long time. But there was always a nervous moment whenever she told someone new – you never knew what reaction you would get; and she had seen a lot of them, not all pleasant.

"Oh. I mean I hate people," Gail said, without missing a beat and Holly had to smirk. Total non-reaction, now that was unusual.

"Fair enough," she replied, thoughtfully. She had to admit, she had kind of thrown it out there to test Gail's reaction. She knew she was attracted to the cop, and had actually wondered for a while whether Gail was gay too. After hearing the Nick story she had actually felt a pang of disappointment knowing that she wasn't. But then earlier she could have sworn Gail was flirting with her. It was all a bit confusing truth be told, and so she had been intrigued to know what Gail would say when Holly told her. Not that she was any the wiser now! Holly sighed. At least the blonde wasn't freaked out, which had to be a good thing. Now maybe if she could get over her attraction, then the two of them really could become good friends. Holly yawned and rolled her neck from side to side.

"Anyway. I guess I should be getting to bed," she said, suddenly feeling tired after getting that off her chest and confronting Gail about Andy. Both subjects had been on her mind.

Gail nodded, although she had no real desire to go outside to the van. "Good night, Lunchbox," she said and laughed when the doctor rolled her eyes at the nickname.

"Goodnight Gail," Holly replied. She stood up and fought the urge to give the woman opposite her a quick hug before heading upstairs. Gail watched her go, her mind whirling through the conversation they had just shared. Holly was gay and she had had no idea. It didn't matter obviously; Gail had no problem with gay people, she had a problem with all people. To use her mother's phrase which of course she had hated, Gail was no stranger to 'experimenting' a little herself when she was in her late teens and before meeting Nick for the first time. Nothing serious and nothing that had gone further than a kiss, but she had always been able to recognise an attractive woman. All of her boyfriends had been surprised when Gail commented on another woman's looks, but she had just thought it was normal. All women talked about other women, surely? But finding out about Holly had taken her by surprise. Somehow it painted the feelings she had experienced earlier in a new light. For whatever reason, Gail felt like the crazy yet compelling desire that had shot through her momentarily earlier was now somehow more realistic. She knew that intellectually that was ridiculous; in the same way she could flirt harmlessly with one of the guys from work, just because Holly was a lesbian didn't mean that suddenly she was interested in Gail. Although she had sometimes got the impression that Holly looked at her for a bit too long, or even was mildly flirting. She had put it down to the woman just being a bit weird and now she wasn't sure just because of one small sentence.

Gail drummed her fingers against the kitchen counter and stood up. She was going a bit stir crazy she decided, cooped up in this house for the nights, alone with her thoughts for most of it. She wandered through the house towards the tiny office space, intending to check in with Sanderson before heading out to the van. She found the lanky officer cooped up behind Holly's desk, intently studying the manual spread out in front of him.

"I'm going outside," she announced, as she peered at the frames and paper hung rather haphazardly on the wall. Holy's qualifications were up there of course, but there was all manner of other items pinned up too – certificates for completing several fun runs, random photos and even a couple of kids' drawings.

"Ok," Sanderson replied, stretching out his long arms above his head. "Has the doc gone up?"

"Yep," Gail replied, before impulsively adding, "Did you know she's gay?"

Sanderson stared at her with a bemused expression. "What does it matter?" he asked, unsure what Gail was getting at.

"It doesn't!" she said immediately. "But I didn't know. I'm surprised it wasn't in the file,"

"Hmm. We didn't really find anything about significant others when we put together the background info," he replied, casting his mind back to the research McGregor had had him do. "But unless it directly impacts, we wouldn't have included it anyway,"

Gail nodded, understanding what he was saying. The fact that there was a violent mobster after her family had nothing to do with Holly being gay. And it really didn't matter…but she was surprised that the others seemed to have worked it out when she hadn't. "How did you know then?" Gail couldn't help but ask. Had Holly told the others before her? She had thought Holly had told because they were friends…that she had picked Gail to be her friend. Gail liked the way that had felt; it made her special somehow. But maybe Holly had already had the conversation with the other officers, she was already friends with them and Gail was last on the list.

"Something I heard on one of her phone calls," Sanderson shrugged, his response interrupting Gail's worrying.

"Oh," she said. So maybe Holly didn't just idly share her personal life with everyone then. Although… "Wait, we heard her on the phone that first day – she said she thought you were hot?" Gail mused. Why would Holly say that about Sanderson if she didn't even like men?

Sanderson raised an eyebrow, amused at how clueless his colleague seemed to be. "Not me, Peck. She wasn't talking about me," he told her, grinning when Gail's understanding dawned.

"Oh," she said again, feeling her cheeks colour. The smile plastered on Sanderson's face didn't help matters. She quickly made her escape, telling the other officer she was going out to the van and almost running out the house. Gail switched on the monitors inside the van and scanned the images of Holly's home. They were the same as every night; nothing was happening unless you counted Sanderson balancing pencils on their end, his studying clearly on a hiatus. Gail snorted as the four or five he had stood up clattered to the desk. She flipped a switch and saw Holly's kitchen instead and found herself glazing over a little as she thought about what she had just learned. Holly liked her? Well that was interesting. Very interesting.

 **A/N I always liked the casual way we saw Gail react to Holly's "coming out" in the series, but I did also wonder what was going on in that head of hers. We all know Gail is good at hiding things and I bet that she gave the conversation a lot more thought than that snippet of a scene showed us. My Gail here falls back on the old classic - overthinking things! And now she knows that they misinterpreted Holly telling Lisa that someone was hot, she's got a lot more to think about...**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Thanks for the reviews and messages people, it's much appreciated.**

 **So, Gail may have been clued in on a couple of things, but let's face it - she's still a bit lost. She can't even figure out her own feelings, let alone tell what Holly might be thinking. And Holly's going out tonight...who knows what will happen!?**

 **Fair warning - this is the longest chapter yet. It kind of has two distinct scenes, but they just seemed to fit together so I left it as is...**

 **Cheers,**

 **Sam**

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The incessant ringing finally woke Gail out of her deep sleep and she groaned as she stretched over to grab her phone. She blindly stabbed a finger at the bottom corner of the screen in an attempt to hit the snooze option, and flopped her head back down as soon as the noise stopped. As she settled back on her pillow however, she realised that her room still wasn't silent. "What the fuck?" she mumbled as she heard a faint voice saying her name over and over. She grabbed at her phone again and realised it wasn't the alarm that had woken her up but a call. And she'd answered it. She held the phone to her ear and heard McGregor's nasal voice; "Peck? Peck! Are you there?"

Gail winced, feeling far too tired to deal with her cranky new boss right then. "Alright, alright. Stop yelling! I'm here!" she told him, interrupting the flow.

"Ah. Good morning officer," McGregor said, finally lowering his volume. Morning, thought Gail? She risked a glance at the time and smothered her groan when she saw it was only ten thirty. She had only been in bed a couple of hours at most. "We have a situation here Peck, and I need you to come down to the lab," continued the voice on the phone.

"What?" Gail's response was pure reflex as she was still running McGregor's sentence through her brain. She would be the first to admit it took her a while to get going when she had just woken up.

"Lab, Officer Peck! You need to get here ASAP," came the response, McGregor's tone now back towards the tetchy end of the scale.

Gail felt a cold jolt of panic run through her. Something had happened. "Why? Is Holly ok?" she asked urgently.

"Doctor Stewart is fine. But we need you here now, not sitting at home questioning my orders,"

Yep, McGregor was definitely tetchy now. "I'm on my way," Gail said, throwing the bed covers back.

"I'll explain when you get here," and with that, the man put the phone down and cut off the conversation leaving Gail to run round her room pulling on clothes and attempting to get ready in record time.

Half an hour later, Gail jogged through the corridors of the lab looking for Holly and the team. She had been down here before of course, but not since Holly worked there so had no idea where to find the department's newest pathologist. She eventually found them in a small office behind the autopsy room and as she burst through the door and saw Holly sitting behind her desk, looking perfectly fine, she took a deep breath to release the anxiety that she didn't even know she had been carrying. Holly gave her a small smile and a quiet hello, as McNally and Chen also greeted her.

McGregor was less polite and launched into an explanation of why he had called her in. That morning, Chen and McNally had taken Holly straight down to the court as she was due to give preliminary evidence for an inquest into a suspicious death. The hearing had been immediately adjourned however; as the police requested more time to produce some evidence. McNally and Holly had decided to grab a coffee at the courthouse café, leaving Chen waiting outside. As they sat down, McNally spotted a guy watching them carefully and had immediately been suspicious. He seemed to be paying Holly a lot of attention, then once they had finished their coffee and made their move to leave, he also got up. McNally had played it cool, keeping a surreptitious eye on the man whilst hustling Holly towards the exit. Sure enough, the guy had followed them through the courthouse. McNally dragged Holly into the ladies room for five minutes and called Chen. He snuck into the building and saw the guy propped up against a pillar, hiding out and waiting for the women to leave the restroom. Chen agreed with McNally's assessment; whoever he was, this man was clearly watching Holly. Without knowing who else was around, they decided against confronting him, instead falling back of the main priority of a protection officer – keeping their ward safe. They carried out a fast and effective hot extraction; rushing Holly through the courthouse, into Chen's double parked sedan right out front and drove her straight here, knowing how secure the police buildings were. Chen was pretty sure they had been followed all the way by a small dark Mercedes, so had called McGregor straight away. The sergeant met them at the lab, but not before carrying out a little reconnaissance work of his own, circling the block and spotting the Mercedes parked up in a side street, two men inside.

"So, in short Officer Peck, we are on high alert," McGregor summarised. "This is the first clear threat we have had against Dr Stewart in our time here and we need to treat it seriously,"

Gail nodded, not liking the sound of the word threat. She glanced at Holly, who looked a little nervous, but ok. "What do we do?" she asked, straightening up and squaring her shoulders. She was ready to protect Holly, whatever it took.

"We've boosted our numbers by calling you in," Chen said. "Now we have enough people to keep the Doc here under wraps, and go and check out these guys properly," he added with a grin.

McGregor frowned at the younger officer's air of exuberance. "We've called in the local police division to assist; a squad car is on the way. So far we have simply reported it as suspicious behaviour. Officer Chen and I will go and meet them and then deal with the suspects. You and Officer McNally will stay with Dr Stewart and keep her under your guard," he shared his plan with the rest of the team, gazing at each of them in turn as if daring them to argue.

Gail opened her mouth to do just that, but Andy stopped her with a shake of the head, "Fifteen are on the way, we can't go," she told the blonde. Gail pulled a face, mainly at the fact she couldn't do something a little more proactive and face these guys who were following Holly, but also because Andy had known exactly what she was thinking.

"I want you to be extra vigilant," McGregor told them, "This building is secure, and I have alerted security to not allow visitors unless they show police ID or talk to me specifically. But both of you need to be alert at all times, and stay with Dr Stewart. This is not the usual 'one in proximity, one on perimeter' protocol, am I clear?"

Both officers nodded their agreement, though privately Gail thought it was going to look very strange when all three of them went to the bathroom together. Soon after, Chen and McGregor left to go and meet the squad car from Fifteen.

"I'll call you when we're on the way back, so you know to expect us," Chen told me on his way out.

"Call Gail, Jake," Andy yelled after him. "My phone isn't working!"

Holly unexpectedly chuckled at that, and Gail gave her a quizzical look. "Andy dropped her phone in the bathroom earlier," Holly told her.

"That was going to be our secret Doc," Andy hissed as the blush rose from her neck.

Gail had to laugh as well. For such an athletic woman, McNally sure could be a klutz. "You smashed the new phone? Nice going," she said as she moved across the office to shut the door behind the boys.

"I didn't smash it!" Andy denied the accusation.

"It took a bit of bath…" Holly said in a stage whisper and Gail snickered delightedly.

"Oh shut up, the pair of you" Andy told them.

"Don't worry McNally. I'll make sure I call that techie dude and tell him exactly what happened, I'm sure they can sort out a replacement," Gail said airily and she had to admit she enjoyed the filthy look Andy threw at her.

Gail pushed the door shut and stood with her back to it. She eyed McNally's position on the opposite side of the room near the small window and decided it was good enough. Gail noticed McNally was doing her own assessment of their set up and must have come to the same conclusion as she gave Gail a small nod. Both officers turned their gaze to where Holly was sat behind her desk and the woman in question returned their stares openly. A few moments passed in silence, then Holly shrugged and picked up a file from the edge of her desk. "Guess I'll get back to the paperwork then," she said, flipping it open and picking up a pen.

Gail and Andy exchanged glances again, but neither replied. They both continued to watch Holly, with Andy occasionally turning her head to glance out the window and Gail keeping an eye on the small section of corridor she could see through the tiny pane of glass in the office door.

Barely five minutes had passed when Holly broke the silence; "You're both worried," she stated, without looking up from her work.

The sentence hung like a lead weight in the room, and the flat tone of her voice dared either officer to deny it. Andy lifted her eyebrows and took the bait. "We're not worried," she said firmly.

"You are. I can tell. You're both standing there in your cop stance; all stiff and with your hands folded behind your back, or grabbing your jacket," Holly pointed first at Andy who hastily relaxed her arms to her sides and then Gail who simply looked down to where her hands were lightly gripping the lapels of her leather jacket.

"I just like standing like this. It's comfortable," Andy defended herself.

"It's a cop thing. You all stand like that. Trust me, I've been on enough crime scenes to notice," Holly told her.

Her attention was taken by Gail, who deliberately unhooked her fingers from her jacket and strolled across the room to take a seat on one of the soft chairs that were crammed into the corner of Holly's office. "It's because of the belt," she explained lightly, "When you're on patrol in uniform you can't hang your arms down by your side because you knock against all the kit on your belt. So you fold them behind your back, or tuck them into your vest. It becomes a habit, that's all. Nothing to do with nerves – we probably stand like that at the bar on a night off as well."

Holly considered the logic behind that statement. "You still look worried," she said, even though Gail was seated.

"Are you worried?" the blonde countered.

"No. Should I be?"

"No,"

"Ok then", Holly said with a small smile at Gail. "Now Andy, will you please sit down, you're the only thing making me nervous," she asked, turning to the dark haired officer.

Andy gave another long glance out the window, and couldn't help sneaking a peek through the door too as she moved to the second chair and sat down. She shifted slightly on it so she was facing the door rather than the other occupants of the room. "Why aren't you worried?" she asked. She thought Holly was acting remarkably cool for someone who had only been under an abstract threat for over a week and then had suddenly seen evidence of real trouble.

As she pondered the question, Holly locked her gaze with the clear blue eyes of the other police officer in the room. The steady confidence she found there made her answer easy. "Because you guys are here and are watching out for me. You'll look after me, right?" she asked.

"Sure!" McNally said, trying to put some bravado into her voice, but it was Gail's soft "Of course," that really gave Holly the assurance she wanted.

The women lapsed into silence once more, and Holly picked up her pen to start working again. However, it was a little tricky with Gail asking non-stop questions from her corner. Holly tried to explain what she was doing in short layman's terms, but the more questions Gail asked, the more she got into it and found herself launching into a long explanation of extracting diatoms from a femur.

From the police officer's point of view, she had never seen Holly so animated, not even when they were jousting over a board game. With Holly so absorbed in the conversation, Gail took the opportunity to watch her, only asking another question here and there to prompt her to carry on. She had been keeping an eye of Holy since she had arrived at the lab, but wasn't sure what she was expecting to see. After yesterday's revelation that Holly thought she was hot, she had imagined that she would be able to see some sort of sign of that. But Holly was just being her regular nerdy self. Gail was used to people finding her attractive and there was always a sign. A secret look, an over eager smile, unconscious touching of the face or hair. Anything really, but Holly was giving nothing away. Maybe she wasn't interested any more. She could have been attracted to Gail's looks on that first night, but now she had gotten to know her, the interest had more than likely waned. That was probably it, Gail thought and the sliver of disappoint she felt was both puzzling and annoying.

When Gail's phone rang some time later, all three women jumped and the cops both instinctively twitched towards their weapons before they fully registered what the sound was. Gail listened to Chen for only a few seconds before putting the phone down.

"They're on the way back," she told others when she saw their expectant looks.

"And?" Andy demanded.

Gail shook her head, "They didn't get them,"

The atmosphere in the room nosedived as soon as Chen and McGregor got back. Everyone had come to expect McGregor to be gruff, but even Chen was in a surly mood as they recounted the non-events of the last hour or so. They had met up with the uniforms from Fifteen before roaring round to where McGregor had spotted the trailing vehicle earlier, but the car had gone. They had spent a futile hour driving round the surrounding area hoping to pick them up again but eventually had to admit defeat. McGregor was seething at being so close, whereas Chen just seemed frustrated that they hadn't gone to tackle the guys earlier.

"Its fine," Andy said when she heard the story. "We'll get them next time,"

"I would hope there isn't going to be a next time, Officer McNally!" McGregor chastised, "We don't want Dr Stewart followed just so we can get a handle on these guys,"

"I didn't mean it quite like that," she muttered, trying to ignore Gail's smirking face. The blonde was just pleased someone else was getting a ticking off from the boss, as it had been her for the past week.

The sergeant gave an exasperated shake of his head. "So, plan for the rest of the day ladies and gentleman. I am classing this as a high threat situation therefore myself and Officer Peck will be joining you for the rest of the shift,"

"Wait, am I still doing the night shift too?" Gail interrupted with a scowl.

"Yes, we don't have the numbers to switch things around I'm afraid,"

"That's going to be a twenty four hour shift! On two hours sleep!" Gail exclaimed.

McGregor grunted. "You're going to have to suck it up Officer Peck. Someone is going to have to do it and unfortunately you've drawn the short straw,"

"Fan-fucking-tastic," she mumbled under her breath.

Holly was still sat behind her desk and was giving a wholly unconvincing performance of that all time classic act of 'I'm busy working and not listening to a word you're saying'. But she gave up when Gail's grumpy side came out. "I'm only working half a day today. Maybe when I'm home this afternoon, you could grab a couple of hours sleep there Gail?" she suggested. She had taken some time she was due today because it was Rachel's birthday so they had plans to meet up early at Lisa's house and have a few drinks before going out. But she didn't mind putting off the pre-drinks if she had to – Gail couldn't have been home for more than a couple of hours this morning before she had to come rushing in.

"And I don't mind putting a couple of extra hours in later, so we can cross over," Andy interjected too.

"That's settled then; you'll get plenty of time for a break, Peck," McGregor said.

The blonde officer rolled her eyes out of sight of McGregor. She actually wasn't worried about pulling a twenty four hour shift; she was a police officer. It wouldn't be the first time and probably not the last. The only reason she had asked is because tonight's shift was going to be a little different with Holly going out. Gail was looking forward to it. It was a chance to get out to a bar, enjoy the music at least even if she was on duty so couldn't have a drink. And see Holly all glammed up. She didn't want to miss her shift later, so was relieved to hear they weren't swapping despite the extra hours she would be putting in today. As soon as that thought sunk in though, McGregor was trying to ruin it.

"About this evening you have planned though Dr Stewart, maybe today isn't the best time…" he started, but Holly interrupted.

"Whoa. No way, Sergeant. We had a deal; I am going out tonight. You've already agreed it,"

"I know that, but in light of what has happened, I think…"

Again, Holly didn't let McGregor finish, "We have a plan. Gail and Scott will be there the whole time and you yourself will be outside. It's no more dangerous now than it was when we agreed this,"

"When we agreed it, we didn't know there was anyone watching you," Chen cautioned.

"They won't know where I am! As long as they don't follow me from home, how will they know I'm out somewhere?" Holly asked. "You keep telling me that the most dangerous thing I can do is stick to a routine. Nothing about tonight is routine, it's a one off night out!"

Gail watched the exchange with interest. She hadn't seen Holly get annoyed since that first night and that was just a silly temper tantrum. This was firm and commanding Holly; Gail liked it.

"We'll see how the rest of today pans out," McGregor said, trying to dismiss the argument for now.

"I'm going, Sergeant McGregor. You can't actually stop me, but I would be grateful if your officers would accompany me, as we'd arranged,"

McGregor's mouth opened and shut like a goldfish and he looked round the room for support. However Jacob was paying more attention to the shelf crammed full of books and papers above Holly's desk and Andy was staring at the floor. He didn't even try Gail.

"Let's sort out today first. I believe I was going to pass on my orders, before we all went off on this rather irritating tangent!" Gail could see the thick vein running across McGregor's temple popping out from under his skin. No wonder he was going grey if he got stressed this easily. She could also hear the tension in his voice so decided not to push it.

"McNally and Chen, you are shadows – stick close to Dr Stewart at all times. I will be the front guard, moving round the building, watching exits. Peck I want you out front, external surveillance. Keep a low profile, obviously some of your colleagues may be around. Understood?"

Everyone murmured their understanding and McGregor left to make sure Gail had a clear run through the building. As the door swung shut behind him, the remaining officers looked at one another.

"Well that was cheerful," Andy deadpanned.

"Least you're not on the twenty four hour clock," Gail replied.

Andy inclined her head; she had to give that one to Gail. "I meant it though. I can stay later tonight, give you a couple of hours rest," she said.

Gail didn't want to accept the favour from her colleague, but it was a nice gesture she supposed. She shrugged and changed the topic, "I'm surprised he called me in to be honest," she said. She knew McGregor wasn't her biggest fan, so was kind of shocked he had called her in an emergency. Maybe although he didn't get on with her personally, he was still able to recognise that she was a good cop doing a good job on this assignment.

"He couldn't get through to Sanderson," Chen interjected, without giving thought to what he was implying.

Oh. Well that explained it, Gail thought. It wasn't that McGregor rated her; she was just the only one available. Brilliant. Last choice as usual.

From across the room, Holly noticed the flicker of disappointment that flashed across the blonde's face. She frowned at Jacob, cursing his insensitivity. Before she could say anything though, Gail was out the door and off to patrol the perimeter of the building. Holly sighed and picked up a pen. She hadn't done any real work today so far, and she had a lot to get through if she was going to be able to leave early as planned.

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"Cop stance," was the whisper Gail heard in her ear before she felt someone grip her wrists from behind, where she had clasped them behind her back. She felt her hands being tugged apart and so she relaxed them and let them fall to her sides. She was far more aware of the warm breath against her neck and how now that her hands were out the way she could sense the body behind her step closer in, gently resting against her back. Before she could turn, a knee nudged sharply against the back of her own causing it to bend slightly out of the straight locked position she had adopted. The move brought the hips of the perpetrator up against her backside for a split second and she froze at the feel of the warm body which was almost spooning her own.

Gail turned round and experienced the full force of a megawatt Holly Stewart smile. The noise of the crowded bar around them swam back into focus after a few moments and Gail looked up at where Sanderson was sat on a small table in the corner near to where Holly's loud and raucous friends were celebrating Rachel's birthday. None of them seemed to have noticed the exchange between the two women, which surprised the cop. Her heart was beating faster and she felt warm; surely somebody should have seen that? Gail didn't realise that it had merely been a second or two since Holly approached her at the bar.

"You're supposed to be undercover, Officer Peck," Holly chided, her eyes sparkling in amusement. "You can't slip into the uptight cop stance,"

"It's not my cop stance. It's my 'I've been waiting to get served for over five minutes and I'm not even buying the good stuff so I might have to rip someone's ear off' stance," Gail retorted, still frustrated at having been at the bar for so long.

"Well you looked like a cop again. And you can't do that otherwise someone will spot you and know you're here for me," Holly explained.

"Here doing what for you?" Gail asked. They had been here for a couple of hours, and Holly finally seemed to be getting a little bit tipsy. She had a long way to go to catch up with some of her friends though.

"Watching me," she said, as if it were obvious.

Gail laughed at the serious look on the other woman's face. "Won't they just assume I'm an off duty cop who's just here on a night out, watching you because I'm trying to pick you up?"

Holly considered that, "Probably. I do look very hot tonight,"

"You do," Gail agreed, feeling safe enough to admit that with Holly in a less than clear minded state. The brunette was wearing a black button down shirt which fitted in all the right places and she had left enough buttons undone to show a hint of an impressive cleavage. Her tight jeans hugged her thighs and her heels made her long legs look like they went on forever. Yet it was Holly's arms that drew Gail's attention; her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and revealed strong, tanned forearms. Gail couldn't take her eyes off the smooth skin she saw there, and felt the urge to lay her hand on it. Gail knew it was weird, but she had always had a bit of a thing for arms. Both Nick and Chris had fantastic arms, but of course it was easier for men to get definition in their biceps. Her first boyfriend in high school had been a power hitter for the school baseball team so even his arms also rippled with muscle. Yep Gail definitely had an arm thing. Though if anyone ever asked what attracted her to someone she wouldn't admit it; she would trot out one of the usual lines about eyes, or smile, or ass. She had never found herself looking at another woman's arms quite like this before though…and she couldn't even see Holly's upper arms which were usually the bit she drooled over! She shook her head slightly, trying to snap out of it. Where had this come from?

As Gail mused over her sudden realisation that girls arms could be sexy too, the other woman was oblivious to the thoughts running through her friend's head and shared the idea that had just popped up in her own brain; "It would make a better cover story than you and Sanderson being on a date!" Holly exclaimed brightly.

"Yeah…I'm not sure that McGregor knew what sort of place this was when he cooked that one up," Gail grimaced. She and Sanderson were supposed to be sticking close to the brunette and keeping an eye on the area from their cosy perch in the corner. McGregor's premise was that they would just look like a couple out together for a few drinks and he could cover the outside of the bar, vetting those who came in. However it had quickly become obvious that she and Sanderson would stick out like a sore thumb here, being the only straight "couple" in the place.

Holly giggled and Gail couldn't help but smile at the sound. She had obviously heard Holly laugh before, but never giggle in quite such a girly manner. She leant in towards Gail; "I didn't tell him it was a gay bar," she admitted in conspiratorial tone.

"Neither did I," Gail responded and they both cracked up.

"Hey, you could have bought Andy!" Holly said. "You two would make a hot couple,"

Gail's laughter spluttered to a stop at the thought. "I don't think so, Lunchbox," she said, and turned back to the bar where she still hadn't been served thanks to Holly's interruption.

"You'll have to forgive her one day you know,"

"You think Andy's hot?" Gail shot straight back, turning the tables.

"Not as -" Holly caught herself before she said something silly. She was tipsy enough to flirt a little bit with Gail, but telling her she didn't think Andy was anywhere near as hot as the blonde would definitely not be a good idea. She knew her attraction to the sardonic cop was inappropriate and had been holding back her interest in all the time they spent together. But she figured that tonight she could let loose a little; flirt a bit and share some banter. She could always blame it on the alcohol. "Not really," she said eventually.

Gail's attention was caught by the bartender eventually asking what she wanted and she ordered two soft drinks for her and Sanderson, asking him to put them in normal glasses so it wouldn't be obvious. "Drink, Holly? You may as well order whilst I've got this chump's attention, otherwise you'll be waiting forever," she asked.

"Jack and coke please," was the reply, Holly still trying to get over how she had nearly answered Gail's first question. The cop ordered the drink and gave Holly a death stare when she tried to hand over some cash for it.

"Thanks Gail. I owe you one," Holly said.

"Deal. But I want a proper drink, so not tonight when I'm only on lemonade!"

"Okay. I'll take you out for a real drink when you're not working," Holly agreed happily. "Well, better get back to the birthday girl! Cheers!" she raised her glass towards Gail before heading back towards her friends.

Gail stood still for a moment. Had she just been asked out? Well actually, not even asked. Just told. _What the heck just happened there?_ She looked over towards where Holly was standing with one of her friends who was chatting away whilst Holly just blinked at her. In her peripheral vision she caught sight of Sanderson, who was slowly waving his arms back and forth to get her attention. She sauntered over and sat down next to him so she could still see Holly.

"What?" Gail asked, dumping the drink in front of him.

"It's just taken you ten minutes to get a drink, then you stood there staring into space when you got it. Are you losing the plot, Peck?" Scott asked.

"That barman is the slowest server in the history of this planet,"

"Couldn't you flutter your eyelids at him? Isn't that how you girls usually get served quickest?"

"Sanderson, we're in a gay bar. Go figure," she told him sardonically.

"Good point well made," Scott replied, and they settled back into their chairs, continuing to scan the room and keep an eye on Holly who was now talking to Lisa. Lisa was one of the few members of Gail's group who knew who Sanderson and Gail were and why they were there. Gail had been introduced when the woman arrived at Holly's earlier and had taken an instant disliking to her. That may have been because Lisa ringing the bell had woken the blonde from where she was snuggled up in Holly's spare room grabbing a couple of hours sleep. Or it may have been the sarcastic way Lisa had referred to the team as the babysitters when she heard they were coming out with Holly. Either way, the woman was a Grade A bitch.

As the evening wore on, the alcohol took its toll on Holly and her friends, plus the rest of the bar. Gail soon realised that being stone cold sober in a bar full of drunken people made it very difficult to resist her usual urges of tazering someone in the eye. Holly was currently tearing up the dancefloor with some of her friends however and her antics were at least keeping the blonde entertained. She sent Sanderson out to check in with McGregor and told him to stop off at the bar on his way back. "Get me something interesting," she ordered.

"Ooo, mocktails!" Scott said, with false enthusiasm.

"Now you're blending in better!" Gail told him with a wink.

As she sat on her own and ran her eye over the crowd looking for anything out of place, her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to read the text.

 _Doctor Holly: Cop Stance!_

Gail frowned and looked over to where Holly was stood on the edge of the dancefloor, taking a breather. She hit reply and typed out a message.

 _Gail: I'm sitting down._

 _Doctor Holly: Not you! Them!_

Holly waited until Gail looked up at her, and then pointed over to where Sanderson and McGregor stood near the front entrance door casually talking. They were both standing like bookends, straight backed with their hands folded behind them. Gail smirked and responded.

 _Gail: You are very observant, Doc. But this cop stance seems to be becoming an obsession of yours._

 _Doctor_ _Holly: I notice things. I like your necklace…I noticed that. It's beautiful._

Gail quirked an eyebrow at that abrupt change of topic in the conversation, and she twirled the necklace in question around in her fingers. Gail rarely wore jewellery, but she felt the need to dress up her simple top and jacket combination tonight. The modest silver twist seemed to do the trick.

 _Doctor_ _Holly: Not that I was looking at your chest._

That time Gail had to laugh out loud and glanced up at Holly who was also laughing, though her face betrayed her as Gail could see the blush across her cheeks. She typed a one word reply.

 _Gail: Busted._

 _Doctor Holly: Bathroom!_

When Gail read that last message, she actually responded out loud. "What?" Sometimes she found Holly difficult to follow; the brunette liked to bounce from topic to topic in conversation. But in text, she was even worse. She waited for Holly to approach her and asked her question by simply looking at the other woman.

"I need to go to the bathroom. Thought I should tell you, so you can do your creepy follow thingy," Holly said. She held out her hand and pulled Gail up, but didn't let go as she led her towards the bathrooms at the back of the bar.

"Are you enjoying your night?" Gail asked.

"Yeah! I think I might be a little drunk though! Shhh, don't tell anyone," Holly whispered, before that giggle came out again.

Gail didn't quite hear all of that as she was busy checking out the small corridor they were in as she hasn't been back here before. She was still on duty, after all.

"Gail! Stop being police-y!" Holly told her, slapping her on the shoulder.

"There might be an insane hitman behind that bathroom door Doc, you never know. And I kind of like you, so it would be a shame if they got you now," Gail said.

Holly pulled back on her arm, halting the officer's progress suddenly. " _You're_ insane. You know that right?" she said and before Gail had a chance to realise what was happening, she pressed a small kiss against the blonde's lips. It was gentle and fleeting and utterly captivating. As soon as it had happened, Holly was pulling away and skipping towards the bathroom, leaving Gail stood in the hallway, completely and utterly shocked.

She paused for a beat before gathering herself and following Holly through the door, wanting to ask what that was all about. But the other woman was already in the stall and Gail didn't really feel this should be a conversation they should have through some wooden partitioning. As she stood there waiting, she suddenly realised that she could do with answering the call of nature too. She entered the other stall just as she heard Holly finishing up.

"Hey, wait for me please Lunchbox?" she called out.

"Yes ma'am!" came the reply as the sink started to run. However, Gail then heard the main door to the bathroom swing open and she tensed immediately. She relaxed when she heard one of Holly's giggling friends come in and greet her. Gail couldn't hear their conversation but she did catch Holly's raised voice.

"Gail! I'm just heading out with Jess! See you in a sec!" she called.

"Wait, Holly!" Gail yelled, rushing to yank her jeans up, but by the time she'd exited the stall Holly had gone. _Dammit_ , Gail thought. Not only had she wanted to speak to Holly about what had happened, she wasn't supposed to let the woman out of her sight.

Gail trotted back to the bar and found Sanderson back at their table. She looked over to Holly's gaggle of friends but there was no sign of the brunette. "Where's Holly?" she asked, searching the crowd.

"I assumed she was with you?" Sanderson looked up and his movements stilled.

"She was, but she left the bathroom before me. She would have come out of that door right there," Gail said, pointing.

"She hasn't come past me," he replied, standing up and using his tall frame to look over the people surrounding them and begin his own scan of the bar.

"Fuck!" Gail swore, and started to push through the room, heading towards the bar and then the dancefloor. The panic began to set in as she made a slow circuit of the room, checking all the nooks and crannies she assumed Sanderson couldn't see from his stationery position. She stuck her head into all the booths along the west wall and even hopped up into the DJ booth for a look. Where the heck was she? _Come on,_ she chanted to herself as she moved as quickly as she could through the mass of people, expecting to walk right into Holly at any second. Nothing could have happened to her, surely? She had been out of Gail's sight for less than a minute. They had been watching the room all night, nobody had been acting remotely suspicious and McGregor had been on the door. _Fuck!_

She crashed into Sanderson somewhere near the dancefloor. "She's not here!" she told him, fear evident in her voice. God, if something had happened, it would be all her fault. She was supposed to have been with her! Her heart was racing and she fought to temper her anxiety and try to think straight.

"She's got to be," Sanderson answered. "Go check the bathroom again,"

Gail shoved her way through the centre of the room and barrelled through the door leading to the bathrooms, Sanderson hot on her heels. She turned left into the ladies room and heard him burst into the men's room opposite, although if Holly was in there she would eat her own pepper spray. Her quick and frantic check yet again revealed no Holly and Gail slammed her fist against the drier as she left the room, scraping her knuckles. She had really screwed this up. If someone had grabbed Holly, then she didn't know what the hell she would do.

Sanderson gave a grim shake of his head when they met in the corridor and Gail's stomach dropped like a stone. The men's room had been their last place to check.

"Call McGregor," Sanderson said, the worry written all over his face.

She hesitated, knowing as soon as she did that then she would have to admit that she had failed.

"Gail. We've got to call him. This is bad," he urged.

Still Gail didn't move, the fear weighing her in place and the last few minutes running in loop around her head. Had they missed anything? Was there anywhere they hadn't checked before they made the call? Sanderson swore under his breath and pulled his own phone out, but as he did so they heard a bang at the end of the corridor. A young man came walking unsteadily round the corner, pausing when he saw the two cops stood in front of him blocking the way.

"Hello," he said with a grin which faltered when they turned their stony gazes towards where he stood and he felt the tension radiating off them.

"What the hell is through there?" Sanderson growled, pointing behind the man.

"Uh, smoker's terrace," the guy said, flummoxed at the aggressive manner of the question. Before he could ask though, the two people came running towards him and he had to flatten himself against the wall to avoid being knocked aside. The couple charged through the door and disappeared outside. "Straight people," the guy muttered with a roll of his eyes and he headed off in the direction of the bar.

As Gail ran through the door they had failed to spot earlier, she spent a brief moment deciding that 'terrace' was an overly extravagant description of what was essentially a yard. The management had tried to fancy it up with some decking, a couple of heaters and some palm plants but it was still a dingy old delivery yard. She didn't care though when she spotted Holly in the far corner, standing with her friend from earlier. Gail's knees virtually buckled with relief and she grabbed hold of Sanderson's forearm. She turned to look at him and opened her mouth to say something but couldn't find the words. Her mouth felt as dry as parchment so she swallowed and just shook her head. Sanderson leant back against the door and exhaled long and loudly to rid himself of his own panic.

"How did we not know this was out here?" Gail asked, just to break the silence.

"We didn't recon the place when we arrived," Sanderson shrugged. "We should have. Stupid," he said, aiming it at himself rather than Gail. He was the experienced protection officer after all.

Gail nodded. She hadn't even thought about that. Maybe this bodyguard job wasn't quite as straightforward as she assumed. She consciously relaxed her muscles and willed her heart to slow down and the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach to dissipate. However as she turned back towards Holly those feelings came rushing back as she saw the other woman standing with the doctor step in close and kiss her passionately. Holly's hands moved up the other woman's back as she was pushed against the brick wall of the building.

The sick feeling turned to anger in Gail's chest. She had just spent ten minutes scared witless for this woman's life only to find her necking behind the bar like a teenager. Before her brain could catch up with her, she was marching over.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?" she yelled, when she was close enough to the two women. They broke apart quickly, surprise written across both of their faces.

"Gail…" Holly started to speak, but the cop didn't give her a chance.

"I told you to wait for me! You don't fucking stroll off when I tell you to wait,"

"I thought you'd follow" she tried to explain, but Gail was having none of it.

"You didn't think at all," the blonde snapped, ignoring Sanderson who was hissing at her to keep it down. "We're leaving. This night is done, come on," she stated.

The girl with Holly chose that moment to try and interject, sweeping her light brown hair back out of her face and putting her hand on the pathologist's shoulder. "Hey. You don't get to tell Holly what to do,"

Gail gave the woman an icy stare. "Yeah, I do actually." She jerked her head at Holly and stormed towards the door, relying on Sanderson to usher the doctor after her and leaving the other woman open mouthed behind them.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Oh Holly, Holly, Holly. What are you playing at? Well hopefully in this chapter we'll find out. It starts with Holly's viewpoint, which is the first time that has popped up significantly in all of this. Fair warning though; things don't exactly get resolved in this one.**

 **On another note, this will be the last update before Christmas, as I'm off to somewhere with no computer. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!**

 **Cheers,**

 **Sam**

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It was the pounding in her head that woke Holly up, most definitely. Or it might have been the way her stomach was turning like a washing machine. Or the fact she had fallen asleep fully clothed; her bra was digging painfully into her side and her jeans felt like they were cutting off the blood supply to her feet. Holly rolled over onto her back and closed one eye. Oh god, she was so hungover. Hanging like a bat in fact. She groaned as memories from the night before came flooding back. It had been a while since she had gotten that drunk, but it had been a good night. Until the end, where Gail had gone all psycho cop on her and dragged her home like she was a teenager who had missed curfew.

Holly had no idea why Gail had flipped, as the blonde had refused to speak to her in the car on the way home. She had intended to have it out with her when they got back…but it looks like she might have crashed instead. Holly sighed and started to wriggle out of her jeans without getting out of the bed. She and Gail had been getting along great all night, or so she thought. She was aware that she might have been a bit flirty; she always was when she'd had a drink or two. And it was hard to stop herself with Gail, what with the whole issue of the raging crush she had on the woman. But Gail seemed to be ok with it and had even flirted back a bit, tossing banter back and forth.

The brunette stretched out but soon stopped when the pain in her head intensified. So where had it all gone wrong? She had even asked Gail out for a drink, albeit in a very casual way so that if the blonde had shied away she could have just passed it off as a joke. Oh God, and then she had ended up kissing Jessica late on. That really wasn't her brightest move. Jess was another friend of Rachel's who Holly had met a few times on various nights out. They got on well enough but Jess had made it clear on a couple of occasions that she was interested in Holly. Holly wasn't sure it would go anywhere and the timing had never been right so they had never been more than friends. Last night though Jess had been extra attentive; early on Lisa had let slip she had just broken up with the girl she had been seeing recently so Holly assumed that was the reason. However, when she returned from the bar after that first conversation with Gail, she had realised it was more than that.

"Treat them mean, keep them keen Holls?" Jess had asked.

"I'm sorry, what?" Holly didn't understand what the other woman was talking about, and if she were honest with herself she was still a little worked up from the feel of pressing up against Gail's back.

"I saw you with the blonde at the bar! You chatted her up, got a drink then left her hanging,"

Holly winced. Scott and Gail were supposed to be keeping a low profile. Most of Holly's friends weren't even supposed to know they were there. She shouldn't have drawn attention to Gail. "Oh that," she had said, trying to laugh it off. "That was nothing, we were just chatting,"

"Yeah, maybe that's what you think. But she's been watching you all night,"

It was at that point where Holly realised that there was perhaps more than a little jealousy behind Jess's comments. If she had seen Gail watching Holly, then logically Jess had probably also been watching Holly. Clearly Jess thought she had competition for Holly's attention. Truth be told there was no competition; Gail had grabbed Holly's interest right from the get go.

Holly groaned again and wriggled to a cold spot in the bed. She knew it was crazy to feel this way about Gail. She barely knew the woman, but she had intrigued her from the moment they met and the more she got to know her, the more she liked her. Gail was beautiful, obviously, but she was also the most contradicting puzzle of a woman Holly had ever met. She could go from warm and responsive in one minute to cold and aloof in the next and there was never any clue to what would switch the switch. She was hilarious and rude and sarcastic and fierce and just completely ridiculous. And that was an odd list of things to be attracted to, but Holly was definitely attracted…against her better judgement. Therefore she now spent her evenings trying not to stare at the cranky cop who was usually perched on the stool near her kitchen island. She tried not to flirt and she tried not to imagine her naked.

Last night however, the combination of having spent all day with Gail and a few drinks had caused her to abandon the boundaries she had set herself. It didn't help that she had seen both sides of Gail; the sleepy woman wrapped up in Holly's spare room catching up on some much needed sleep and the blonde bombshell who emerged later in her smart black jacket, low cut top and skinny jeans. Holly had approached her at the bar without even thinking through the consequences, but Gail hadn't seemed to mind being the teasing. She'd bought her a drink, after all.

When Holly thought about it though, it was the kiss later on that seemed to have caused all the problems. She hadn't meant to kiss Gail outside the bathroom, but she couldn't help herself. She had wanted to do it earlier but when Gail told her she liked her, no matter that the context wasn't actually along the lines where she had wanted to hear that, she couldn't stop herself. As soon as she had dropped that quick kiss on Gail's lips, she had been kicking herself. She had virtually run away, she remembered with a flush of embarrassment. Stupid, stupid, stupid she told herself. What the hell was she thinking, kissing the straight girl who firstly she had only just become friends with and secondly was only actually hanging around with Holly because it was her job.

No wonder Gail was upset with her; she had hit on her for Christ's sake. Holly knew from painful experience that hitting on your straight friends tended to bring about an abrupt end to said friendship, not to mention causing a whole lot of awkward, uncomfortable and depressing moments. She was going to have to apologise later when Gail arrived for her shift. Although first on the list was going to have to be calling Jess and apologising for kissing her too. Holly had been so freaked out by what had happened with Gail that when she had bumped into Jess in the bathroom she had agreed to go outside with her. Holly wasn't interested in Jess and drunk or not, she was very aware of that. But she was pissed off with herself for giving into her desires and not being able to shake off her attraction to Gail. She had thought that maybe fooling around a little with Jess would be the way to distract herself and get Gail out of her mind. Holly covered her face with her hands and wondered if she could shake the hangover off long enough to make a decent fist of building a time machine. That way she could go back and not kiss anyone. Honestly, having to apologise for kissing two people in one night? It really was like being a teenager again. A spoilt, obnoxious teenager!

She was going to have to bite the bullet and do it though. She really didn't want to give Jess the wrong idea first of all. She had used her last night and that was way out of line. But also, she didn't want to lose Gail's friendship. She could push her feelings to one side because it was just a crush after all. She was a fully grown adult who could control herself. And she would just have to completely avoid drinking again over the next few weeks. The thought of alcohol made her guts churn and she wrenched herself out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Once she had emptied the contents of her stomach and brushed her teeth, she stumbled back to bed and flopped back under the covers. She was going to bite the bullet…but she was going to do it after a few more hours sleep. Thank God she had booked today off work.

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Later that evening, Holly was a least feeling a little more human again. She had dragged her sorry ass out of bed in the early afternoon, albeit she had only made it as far as the couch much to McNally's amusement. "Heavy night?" she had asked, grinning at Holly's comatose form. Holly had only groaned in response and McNally had made a comment that it had to have been a messy one, as Gail was like a bear with a sore head and Holly was in such a state. McNally did eventually take pity on the doctor and made her some tea and toast. Along with binge watching her Game of Thrones box set, it had helped. She had also made her phone call to Jess, which had the opposite effect.

By the time Gail was due to arrive, Holly had summoned up the energy to sort herself out, have a shower and get dressed. As she came down the stairs, she saw Gail had perched on the end of her couch, eyes glued to the flickering television.

"Hi," Holly tentatively offered, taking a seat next to the blonde.

"Hi," was Gail's response, before she turned back to the TV, seemingly concentrating on the hockey game playing out in front of her.

"Who's winning?" Holly asked in what she would freely admit was a lame conversation starter.

Gail didn't look at her, "The score is in the top left corner," she stated, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Holly felt a flash of anger. Ok, so she had screwed up last night but she was all ready to apologise if Gail just let her. She hadn't the patience to draw this out into a long protracted argument; the conversation with Jess earlier had been bad enough. She had tried to explain that she had gotten a little carried away last night, and the other woman shouldn't read anything into their kiss. Jess had been understandably upset and accused Holly of leading her on and using her. Holly couldn't really deny that so all she could do was apologise but they had left things on rather a sour note. The doctor felt bad about it, she really did…but there was nothing more to say. Apart from continuing to silently vow never to drink again. Holly rolled her eyes at herself and focused back on the current conversation and the second apology she had to make today. Best to just get it over with.

"I'm sorry about last night," she said quietly, watching the blonde out the corner of her eye but Gail simply shrugged and didn't respond. "Come on Gail, talk to me!" Holly said, raising her voice slightly.

This time the other woman did turn towards her, "And what exactly do you want me to say Dr Stewart?" she asked. Holly winced at the formal use of her title and surname; Gail never called her that after that first conversation they had when they had used each other's first names to wind McGregor up. But it was the cold expression in Gail's blue eyes that worried her more.

"Just let me explain," Holly pleaded and although Gail was still silent, she took the fact the cop was now looking at her to be a sign to continue. "I am really sorry about kissing you," she said. "It was a spur of the moment thing, you know? I was just happy and a little tipsy and we were messing about. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable at all; it was just supposed to be a silly way of surprising you…" Holly tailed off when she noticed that this time her words had had an effect.

Gail's eyes were wide and she looked back at Holly with an almost incredulous glare. "What?" she snapped, her attention now fully on Holly.

"When I kissed you outside the bathroom," Holly clarified, mistakenly thinking Gail had missed the point she was making. "I was just being an idiot and I wanted to apologise." She watched as a look of confusion flitted across Gail's face, followed by something Holly couldn't decipher.

"Oh. Right. It's fine," Gail replied in an icy tone and Holly could virtually see the shutters come down in the cop's head as she turned back towards the game. She couldn't leave it at that, so tried again.

"No, it's not Gail. You're obviously upset with me about it, and I really want to clear the air. I made a mistake and I'm sorry," she said, reaching out and putting her hand on the other woman's shoulder.

Quick as a flash, Gail dropped her shoulder to move away from Holly's touch, and the doctor's stomach dropped like a stone. The hurt was immediate and painful. Gail had never flinched away from her before but she knew that kind of move all too well. It was the awkward, uncomfortable move of a straight woman who was freaking out about being touched by a lesbian in case she was being hit on rather than it just being a friendly gesture. Holly sighed. She was familiar with that reaction, but was surprised to see it from Gail. She had thought Gail was a bit more open minded than the ignorant (and not to mention arrogant) 'she's gay so she must fancy me' mind-set that Holly had encountered in the past. She had clearly misjudged her.

"It was stupid. It won't happen again," she said quietly.

"Jesus Christ, Holly, ok! I get it! You were drunk and you didn't mean it, fine!" Gail replied, and Holly could hear the resentment in her voice. This really wasn't going well; the cop was just getting more annoyed with her. She didn't understand why Gail wouldn't accept her apology and laugh it off. The prejudice she had only just recognised Gail held must be even more deep seated than she had realised. Holly felt her hurt begin to swirl into a familiar anger. She had come across bigotry before, unsurprisingly, and had never dealt with it particularly well. She simply hated being judged for who she was and who she loved by ignorant bullies with no tolerance for anything different to their own way of life. She would have never picked Gail out to be one of those people in a million years; hell, she had even thought that Gail had flirted with her on a couple of occasions recently, not least last night. She must have totally misread things.

"Do you have a problem with me being gay, Gail? Because if so, this whole having you in my house every day is not going to work," she said without bothering to disguise her hostility.

Gail whirled back round to face Holly, and stared straight back at the doctor, "Are you kidding me?" she asked, her voice slow and steady.

"I get that what I did was inappropriate. But I've said I'm sorry and you're still completely over-reacting. It was just a kiss, Gail. You can't catch being gay, don't worry," Holly replied, knowing how flippant that statement was but not really caring.

It seemed Gail did though, as she rapidly stood up from the sofa, her body shaking. Her usually pale face was flushed red and she gestured wildly with her hands as she spoke. This time there was nothing steady about her response, and Holly realised that her words had pushed a button somewhere.

"What the actual fuck? You're accusing me of being some kind of homophobe?" she yelled, her arms spread wide to emphasise the question as she looked down on Holly.

"Well what am I supposed to think?" Holly retorted straight back, and she reacted to Gail's aggression, standing up to bring herself level, "I tell you I'm gay and you have the most casual reaction I've ever come across, and yet I give you a peck on the lips and you get so furious that you drag me home then don't speak to me all day? Either you're a damn good actor Gail, or you just didn't have a problem till it directly affected you,"

Gail tried to breathe through her fury but couldn't contain herself, "Fuck you, Holly Stewart. I don't give a toss about you being gay. If throwing yourself at some random women in a grotty beer yard is what turns you on, then you knock yourself out!"

Hearing those words and looking at the anger coursing through Gail, Holly had a sudden flash of intuition. Was it the kiss with Jess that had set the blonde off, not what had happened on the way to the bathroom? Was it…jealousy? "Are you pissed off because I kissed Jess?" she asked, her voice lower as she stepped forward to look Gail directly in the eye.

For a moment, she genuinely thought Gail was going to kiss her as the blonde leaned towards her but instead the other woman pointed at her and hissed her response, making it difficult for Holly to hear her. "Get over yourself, Holly. It's not all about you," she said, before storming past her towards the kitchen.

"Then what the hell is your problem?" Holly shouted after her, stopping the cop in her tracks.

Gail turned to face her and let fly, "I am pissed off with you! And do you know what, I'm fucking well allowed to be! It's nothing to do with you being gay or making out with some bimbo. I'm pissed off that you deliberately ignored me when I asked you to wait in the bathroom. I'm pissed off that you didn't tell me where you were going…"

"I said I was going out…" Holly interrupted, but Gail raised her voice and continued to talk over her.

"I am pissed off that we spent ten minutes running round that club like lunatics, desperately looking for you thinking I had screwed up the most important job I've ever been given. I'm pissed off that I was terrified out my mind that one of those psychopaths had somehow gotten to you and hurt you, and yeah, I'm pissed off that when I did eventually find you, you had your tongue shoved down your friend's throat without a care in the world. So you know what Holly, me being fucking furious with you is not because you're gay, it's because you're an idiot," Gail was breathing heavily as she finished her rant and she watched the shame spread across Holly's face.

"I didn't realise," she said, all the fight gone out of her in the heat of Gail's outburst.

"And that's the problem. You need to realise," Gail said, still not done. "You need to realise that if I ask you do something then it's for your own good because it is my job to protect you. I can't do that if you blindly ignore me and everything I'm trying to do,"

Holly nodded, as she contemplated her own stupidity. It hadn't even crossed her mind that the officers wouldn't have known where she was when she slipped out the back door with Jess. She knew Gail wanted her to wait, but when she'd yelled back at her, she thought she'd told her that she was going outside. Gail was right; she was an idiot. And Gail had every right to be pissed off with her. She wanted to bang her head against the wall, although it probably wouldn't do much good for the hangover. But she had just made a complete fool of herself trying to interpret Gail's feelings, going round in circles when it turned out to be something so simple. Holly was always overthinking things; her friends were constantly telling her off for that. And it seemed all that time lounging around today had resulted in her thinking herself into an absolute blind alley.

Holly said the only thing that she could, given the situation; "I'm sorry."

"Save it, Holly," Gail said. The police officer grabbed her coat from near the door. "I'm going out to the van, it's my night,"

"But wait…" Holly's sentence was cut off as Gail opened the door. The doctor moved closer towards the other woman, looking as though she may follow her but Gail shook her head.

"I'm sending Sanderson in. Just do as you're asked this time, and stay there," she warned before sliding out the door and shutting it behind just as Holly reached the door.

What an absolute mess you made of that, Stewart, she told herself before giving into temptation and knocking her forehead against the timber panelling of her door. Ouch. Yep, there was that hangover headache again.

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Gail wrenched open the sliding door of the van parked on Holly's street, startling Sanderson who was sat on the pile of cushions they had thrown in there in an attempt to make it more comfortable.

"Get out, it's my turn in the van tonight," she snapped, gesturing with her thumb.

"No, it's not!" Sanderson replied. "Last night we were out for most of it, and you did the night before,"

"Yeah well you've done more than me over the past couple of weeks," Gail said, still holding the van door open.

Sanderson shrugged and started to collect his stuff. He had no work to do tonight, so he wasn't going to argue if Gail wanted to be the one to sit in the cramped van watching flickering screens. Although he couldn't help remarking on what he had just seen; "Fine, but once you've cooled down then you can't avoid her forever by being out here you know,"

"What?" Gail asked, just wanting him to shut up and get lost.

"I saw you arguing. What was all that about?" Sanderson pointed at the monitor which was showing Holly's empty living room.

Gail felt herself colour and ignored the question, instead throwing back one of her own, "I thought those were supposed to be off when she's up and about?"

The non-committal grunt that came from Sanderson's throat told her that the cameras were switched on more than she thought, even as he tried to justify it; "I heard yelling, thought I'd better check it out. So what was the problem?" he persisted.

Gail knew full well he couldn't have heard them from the street – they weren't that loud – but she decided to let it go. The way she felt about Holly right now, the pathologist's privacy wasn't exactly her priority. "I was telling her what an idiot she was last night, disappearing on us," she said shortly, hoping Sanderson would leave it there.

Unfortunately for Gail, the other officer was more persistent than that and didn't read her cue. He raised an eyebrow and blinked in surprise. "You're still mad about that?"

"Bite me, Sanderson,"

"Come on Gail. It's fine; she was drunk and she didn't even realise we didn't know where she was. It was our fault for letting her slip off and not checking the place out,"

"I didn't let her slip off! I specifically told her to wait for me!"

"Seriously, you don't know how lucky you are. So she doesn't do what she's asked this one time? I've had people deliberate try and lose us in the past, people who lie to us and hide from us. We're trying to protect them and they spend weeks fighting us," Sanderson told her, rolling his eyes at some of the problems he'd encountered over the last couple of years.

"I thought we'd lost her!" Gail growled, her frustration growing once again. Why did nobody understand how bad last night was? For the ten minutes that they didn't have eyes on Holly, the fear had almost paralysed her. It was like she finally understood what those parents who had lost a child in the mall or something went through; she had been called out to jobs like that and seen people paralysed with dread. She herself had felt a cold vice grip her heart last night and the flood of sick panic race through her stomach. And she was worrying about a grown adult, let alone a kid.

"But we didn't," said Sanderson, breaking into her thoughts. "And McGregor doesn't know. So everyone's a winner here! Let it go!"

She stared at him, wanting to shake that relaxed grin off his stupid face but settling for just giving him a cold order. "Just get out the van, Sanderson. She's been on her own for five minutes, you had better check she's not done another runner,"

The fair haired officer shrugged his shoulders and finished up grabbing his stuff. He shuffled awkwardly to the door, being far too tall to stand upright even in the high top van and Gail stood aside to let him hop out before she clambered in herself.

"I'll bring you out something to eat later?" Sanderson said, figuring Gail would have calmed down by then.

However, she shook her head in response, "I'm not hungry."

Sanderson watched as she pummelled some of the cushions and settled herself down in front of the computer, flicking the keyboard to change the camera view. She scrolled through the outside camera shots but stopped when she hit Holly's kitchen and saw the other woman sat at the island, her head in her hands. The view might not have been great from the tiny surveillance cameras and the angle wasn't the best but it looked like she had been crying. Gail felt a stab of guilt, but tried to shake it off. She had every right to yell at Holly; not even because of last night but because she had also called Gail homophobic earlier which had struck a nerve.

"You like her, don't you?" Sanderson asked softly from the doorway. He had spotted the play of emotions flicker across Gail's face and had suddenly realised why she was so upset. Things from the last week fell into place alongside it and he knew. He could see it.

"What?"

"Holly. You like her." This time it was a statement, not a question.

Gail's whole body stiffened and she carefully schooled her expression into something neutral. "Everybody likes her. She's cool,"

"Yeah she is. And I like her too, but I don't mean that. Look, I'm not judging you Gail but…"

"What are you doing then? Because I have no idea what you're talking about. So just drop it, ok?" Gail interrupted him fiercely and Sanderson knew it wasn't worth pushing her.

"Just be careful, yeah?" he offered, before gently closing the van doors.

Gail huffed at the door and snarled "Fuck off," after him; albeit very quietly. She flicked the view on the monitor and watched the tall guy stroll through the front door of Holly's. Sanderson approached the woman still sitting at the kitchen island and placed a hand on her arm. Gail couldn't watch any more and switched to one of the outdoor cameras. She sat back on the hard box chair and shoved the cushions around in irritation. Sanderson didn't know what he was talking about. Urgh, this evening was turning out to be so infuriating. Thank God tomorrow was her night off; she need a break from this. She needed a break from Holly.

Gail felt immediately guilty about even thinking that, because she knew it wasn't true. She was really enjoyed hanging out with Holly. But she knew she had overstepped the mark last night. She had deliberately flirted with the other woman, not being able to help herself after she had felt her pressed up against her body. She couldn't explain why she felt so drawn to Holly and that confused her. She had also never felt such a shock from what was barely a kiss. When Holly had ghosted her lips against Gail, the cop had actually felt the spark fizz through her.

She dropped her head into her hands as she remembered that feeling. Oh God. Sanderson was right; she did like Holly. Gail's head swam as she finally admitted it to herself. She had a crush on the doctor and it was completely bewildering. How had that crept up on her without her noticing? She wasn't even gay, let alone gay for sexy librarian types. And she was supposed to be protecting this woman for Christ's sake; she was here for work so not only was it unprofessional, it was completely inappropriate. When she had stepped outside and found Holly, the instant relief had been incredible but it was soon followed by a different emotion when Gail had seen her kiss that Jessica woman. She didn't recognise it through her rage last night, but actually the anger had only swept through her at that moment. Not when she found Holly and realised she was safe, but when she had seen her swapping saliva with the skinny brunette. It was jealousy, Gail admitted to herself. Jealousy and hurt that Holly could casually do that after kissing Gail not twenty minutes prior.

Clearly Holly didn't really feel anything for Gail. She may have found her attractive, but in a purely aesthetic way, or she wouldn't have disappeared off to make out with some bimbo. That had hurt, and had been part of the reason Gail was determined to give Holly the cold shoulder this evening. She hadn't been prepared for how much more painful it would be when Holly told her the kiss was a silly, drunken mistake though. When Holly had approached her in the living room, Gail had assumed she was going to apologise for running off on her. But as soon as she heard Holly say that the kiss was a mistake, the hurt she was already feeling blossomed into anger. Gail had been someone's mistake before, and she didn't want to be used like that ever again.

To make matters worse, Holly had then gone off on a rant about her being homophobic or some such bullshit. If she wasn't so furious about that, Gail could have laughed at the irony. Here she was admitting that she had a crush on another woman, feeling excited about a kiss and jealous of someone else…and the girl thought she was some kind of anti-gay bigot. She scoffed at her own stupidity. Actually, she didn't want to laugh, she wanted to cry. All these stupid feelings were going to stuff things up.

It had been good to have a friend; someone who wasn't caught up in the Peck family dynasty like her old school friends, or swayed by Gail's connections and past like her fellow rookies at work. Someone who seemed to like her just as she was. But Gail had ruined it by turning it into something else; despite her anger at Holly, she knew it was actually her fault. She had blown the friendship up into something else, and was now paying the price. Despite what she might tell herself, having a friend would be kind of nice. She didn't like people, but she could cope with one or two. If they were her people.

On second thoughts though, maybe this is all that was? Gail wasn't used to having close female friends. Maybe the excitement of finding one so quickly was the reason for the confusion? It was perfectly possible that she had misread her own feelings, particularly with the knowledge that Holly was gay. Maybe all good friends felt this pull towards one another – she hadn't really had anyone close enough to tell. Tracy and Andy were friends sure, or at least they had been, but they were closer with each other than Gail -they always had been. Even after the Jerry thing, or now that Tracy was dating Steve. She sighed. That had to be it. Her crush on Holly was based on friendship, not lust. It had to be; Gail hadn't had a crush on a woman before, why would she suddenly start now? She was just getting her feelings mixed up as usual. She should know better than to trust herself.

Thankfully, it was pretty clear Holly didn't share her feelings anyway, given the way she had behaved. So at least that wasn't going to confuse matters even more. All she had to do was sit back, ignore it and wait for the infatuation to go away. If Holly kept being a dick, that would happen pretty soon. Equally if they did become proper friends, then this would settle down when they got to know each other better and just go away, wouldn't it?

"Of course it will," Gail said out loud. In the meantime then, she just had to ignore it and concentrate on how unfair Holly had been earlier. Holly was a let-down, like all the others. People always showed their true colours eventually, although Gail thought she herself must be the sort of person who brings out the worst in others as she was constantly seeing it.

This crush will go away. It's just a crush, because you thought she was a friend. Nothing else, Peck. Nothing else. Gail figured that if she could keep telling herself that, that nagging doubt in the back of her mind would fade away too…

 **A/N: Ooops! Looks like I've left you with our girls not on the best of terms! Sorry about that! Rest assured, I'll fix it. Not till 2016 though. Poor Gail has to spend some more time wrestling with her feelings and poor Holly has to spend some more time being a bit socially dense, and hopefully stop being an idiot.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I hope you all had a fantabulous festive season. I certainly did!**

 **But now I have a job to do; sort this pair out. Kind of! Nothing says I'm sorry like junk food.**

 **Story update, for the guest who asked. Yes, I do have about twenty chapters written out. The reason I don't post them all is because I'm still writing the story, and things that happen in later chapters are directly affected by the earlier ones. I have outlined the whole thing, but as I write, obviously things evolve. Breadcrumbs that I have dropped so far are picked up in the climax. And sometimes I have to change them. I wouldn't want to post something here, then have you guys confused later on because I end up contradicting myself. I would say the crux of things in this story happen from around chapters 10-14, and chapters 20-22. Once I have nailed the latter ones down, the former can be classed as being full and final versions. Then I can post them quicker!**

 **So, without further waffle, this is a short chapter. But I hope you enjoy, nonetheless.**

 **Cheers,**

 **Sam**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Early the next morning, Gail was counting down the hours till her shift ended and she could get out of this claustrophobic tin can. Usually she didn't spend the whole night in the van obviously; she and Sanderson had worked out a good rhythm early on in their partnership. Whoever was in the van would go there about an hour after Holly went to bed, and leave just before the dawn. Plus they would have a couple of breaks in the night, to get a drink or have a comfort break. They only really needed someone watching the cameras when it was dark and quiet, or else it was just as safe to have them both guarding the house. So most nights, one or other of them only spent five or maybe six hours out there, not the full shift. Stubbornly though, Gail had just done ten full hours and the panelling had become a cage. She was tired, uncomfortable and hungry. Only one more hour till 7 am and she could hand over to McNally and Chen.

As it turned out though, she never made it that far. Her phone rang out loudly in the early morning quiet, startling her of out of the bored stupor she had settled into. It was Sanderson, so she answered quickly.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing's up, but I need your help a sec. Can you come inside please?" he replied, before immediately hanging up.

She scowled and debated whether to ignore him, but years of police training kicked in and she did as she asked. 'Always back up your partner' intoned the voice of Elaine Peck in her head. When Gail entered the kitchen though, she was able to chalk up another line on her long mental list of things her mother was wrong about. Sanderson was nowhere to be seen but Holly was stood there, nervously playing with her hands as she waited.

"Hi," Holly tentatively said.

"Sanderson called me. I'm just going to see what he wants…" Gail responded, pointing into the house and moving through the kitchen as if to go and find the other officer.

"Um, yeah. I kind of asked him to," Holly admitted quickly. Gail stopped and turned to look across at Holly with her eyebrows raised. "I didn't think you'd answer if I called," she went on to admit.

"No I probably wouldn't have," was Gail's answer and she moved back towards the door. She had spent the whole night thinking over her new found realisations about Holly, not to mention the fight they had last night. Her head was about ready to explode, and she didn't want to get into it again now. She would be having serious words with Sanderson later.

"Wait!" Holly called and the tone of her voice was enough to stop Gail in her tracks once again, the blonde unconsciously heeding the plea.

Holly picked up a plastic box from the kitchen counter and held it out towards the blonde. "I made breakfast," she said, not meeting Gail's gaze.

"Why?" asked Gail, still not really wanting to be part of this conversation, even if there was food involved.

"A peace offering," Holly said shyly. "And an apology. You were right, I should have been more careful at the bar,"

Gail finally took the box and cracked the lid open, unleashing the sugary scent of breakfast heaven. Despite her aim of maintaining a cool and collected air, she couldn't help the exclamation that escaped her lips in an excited tone, "Doughnuts!"

Holly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that at last she had the other woman's attention. "Yeah. Thought you might like them," she said.

"Where did you get these from?" Gail asked, suspiciously. Holly would have had to send Sanderson to the store and if he had left the premises, she would have seen him on camera.

"I made them,"

"You made these? How?" Gail asked, taking a bite into one of the round balls and licking the sugar from her lips. People did not make doughnuts. Bakeries made doughnuts.

Holly tore her eyes away from the blonde's tongue but stumbled over her words anyway "Oh. Um, well I had to look it up. But I got up early 'cos I couldn't sleep, and I was thinking 'what does Gail like for breakfast?' and I knew you hate eggs, plus there's the whole tomato thing. So the normal breakfast stuff was out, and I thought maybe pancakes but then I remembered you were talking about that doughnut place last week. So I googled some recipes and it didn't seem hard, though the first dough got stuck everywhere and then I burnt some, and the hot oil is a bit dangerous isn't it?" Holly trailed off when she saw Gail was staring at her wide eyed and had even stopped chewing. "Well yeah. Anyway, now I know I guess," she finished with a shrug.

"You remembered I don't like eggs?" Gail asked, kind of feeling taken aback by that long explanation…and the fact she still didn't know how to make doughnuts. Which was annoying. But that bit about eggs had stuck. Most of her friends forgot that and she had known them for years. She slowly resumed chewing the doughnut, wondering how Holly could remember something she'd mentioned in passing.

"Well I like to cook. And I like to cook for you when you're here, so I need to be able to make things you'll actually eat," Holly said with a shrug.

A deep sigh of appreciation came from Gail's lips as she bit into the jam in the middle of the doughnut. They were delicious, but they must have taken ages; "Were you up at 4am or something?"

"Yeah, about four," Holly replied, with a serious nod.

Gail shook her head. The woman was crazy. "You're nuts. But they're good," she told her.

"I just wanted to apologise," Holly said, ducking her head. She felt ashamed at the conclusions she had jumped to last night. "I'm sorry for disappearing the other night. I didn't think,"

The two women looked at each other, Holly still half expecting Gail to walk out on her. She stood firm under the police officer's scrutiny though and only allowed herself a small half smile when Gail moved to sit on her usual stool at the kitchen island. It looked like she may be given the chance to make amends. She watched Gail demolish another doughnut, waiting for her to speak but the silence stretched out in front of them and Holly couldn't help herself. "I know you're mad at me, but I don't want to fall out with you Gail," she said quietly.

Gail looked up, unsure how to answer that. She was mad, but more about the argument they'd had last night rather than what had happened at the club. And now that she had realised she had a bit of a thing for Holly, the fact that the doctor had made her a special breakfast was doing funny things to her insides. She decided that honesty was the best policy.

"I was mad at you for running off, yeah. I asked you to wait and you ignored me," she said.

"I know. It was stupid," Holly agreed. "I guess I was a bit drunk and I'm still not used to having to tell people where I'm going all the time,"

"Yeah, well I guess you got side tracked by what's her face too," Gail said, with a hint of bitterness. She remember the name of course, she was a Peck after all. But she wasn't going to dignify the woman by calling her by her name.

Holly blushed. "That was also stupid," she said to herself, although she was interested to hear that Gail was still a little touchy on the subject of Jess. She was sure she had heard a hint of jealousy from the blonde last night in the middle of that argument, and here it was again, maybe?

Silence descended on them again, and this time Holly wasn't sure how to break it. She was surprised when Gail chose to talk.

"I was mad about what happened. But honestly, Holly? I'm actually more annoyed about what you said last night," said Gail. "You accused me of being homophobic, and that was way out of line,"

Holly sighed and sat down opposite Gail. She nodded her head slowly, "I was just shocked at how you'd over-reacted and I jumped to the wrong conclusion. When I calmed down and had time to think, I know that's not true,"

"I over-reacted?" Gail snorted.

"Yeah you did," Holly defended herself. "You went nuts at me in the club, and you wouldn't talk to me on the way home. Then last night you were giving me the cold shoulder, not letting me explain and shutting me down. What was I supposed to think?"

Gail's voice was raised again as she felt the same sting of resentment at Holly's clueless attitude, "You know what, you don't get to assume that just because you're gay, people are pissed off with you because they're homophobic. Maybe they're just pissed because you're being a dick!"

Holly tried to interject, but Gail wasn't done. "Actually, that's prejudice in itself, you see that right? You're assuming something about someone without even bothering to find out their point of view,"

The doctor stared at Gail, knowing the other woman was right. She hadn't thought about it like that and she was embarrassed with herself. "Well I regret saying it to you and I'm sorry. I regret all of last night. I don't like fighting with you, Gail,"

The apology calmed Gail's temper and she sat back and met Holly's eyes. She could see the brunette was sincere, and at the end of the day, she didn't want to argue with her either. Gail was tired of fighting; she felt like she did so much of it in all other aspects of her life. Hanging out with Holly had been so easy going and relaxed; she didn't want that to change. So Gail Peck did something she wasn't accustomed to. She backed down a little.

"Look. It's fine. I was tired last night, didn't get much sleep over the past couple of days, and maybe I did go a bit overboard. Let's just forget it, ok?" she said. As soon as she'd said it, Gail felt a wave of relief. Holly had been stupid sure, but nobody was perfect. It felt much better to let it go than carry on being offended.

Holly nodded, "I was tired too, and hungover, and this whole bodyguard thing is getting to me. I don't think I was thinking straight. I asked McGregor if I could go for a run again today, clear my head, but he said no," she said with a grimace.

"Maybe he'll let you go another day," Gail told her, her mind elsewhere. She just wasn't used to letting a fight go. Forgiveness wasn't a sentiment Pecks were expected to add to their armoury. Therefore she was surprised at how the knot in her stomach which had grown overnight had suddenly eased.

"Hmm, maybe. So we're good, yeah?" Holly asked.

Gail thought about that. Her feelings towards Holly were still very mixed up. Gail believed her when she said she was sorry about last night, and was happy to let it go. She couldn't get her head round the attraction she felt for the other woman though, and was still hurt that Holly had got together with Jess straight after kissing her. Gail knew that the kiss meant nothing, that it was a soft peck that usually wouldn't even register on her scale. But it had affected her; in that split second she had felt the sort of excitement and butterflies hit her that usually didn't appear until things got much heavier. She was upset that Holly had dismissed that moment as a mistake as despite not knowing exactly how to react to the kiss, Gail didn't want to dismiss it. She didn't want to address it either, that was the problem. She sighed. She couldn't deal with this now.

"We're ok, Holly," she replied quietly.

Holly smiled and reached over to squeeze Gail's forearm, "Thanks. Now can I have a doughnut?" and she quickly snaffled one from the box as she withdrew her arm.

"Hey! Those are my peace offerings!" Gail scowled as half of the doughnut disappeared into Holly's mouth.

"I hadn't tried them yet!" Holly mumbled through her full mouth.

"Well trust me, they're good. For future reference, you can always apologise with pastry; I don't really like the whole talking thing,"

"I'll stick with both, I think. But how about we just try not to fight instead?" Holly asked.

"We'll see," Gail said flippantly, causing the other woman to shake her head.

"Anyway," Holly said. "I'm going to go take a shower before Andy & Jake get here. I'll send Sanderson down; I kinda promised him he could have a doughnut after I'd spoken to you. I wouldn't let him in the kitchen when I was cooking; he kept trying to eat the mix,"

"We'll see about that too, Lunchbox," Gail answered, her brow furrowed at the thought of giving away another of her treats.

"Gail, I made loads! It's your day off today, right? So you've got a whole box to take home!" Holly chastised her.

"I think you have low expectations of how many doughnuts I can eat in a day,"

"Don't worry Gail; I've learnt my lesson not to underestimate you,"

Gail grinned and shrugged at Holly as the brunette got up from her seat to go upstairs. She stared at her breakfast and grinned at that too. What kind of nutjob got up at 4am to make apology doughnuts? The kind of nutjob she had feelings for. And now she knew Holly could make doughnuts, as well as being funny, smart and sexy? Yet another box ticked. Man, she was in trouble here.

Suddenly, Holly's voice interrupted her monologue and she turned to see the other woman leaning over the bannisters.

"Hey, Gail? I just wanted to say…to tell you…well, just that Jess and I? We're not a thing," Holly tripped and stuttered through her words and drummed her fingers against the railing.

Not sure of the correct response to that, Gail settled for a simple, "Right." She tried to meet Holly's eyes but the brunette was determinedly looking everywhere but straight at her. What was Holly trying to tell her here exactly?

"I was embarrassed…that I'd made a fool out of myself with you and I panicked a bit. Then my drunk brain sent me off to be an idiot," Holly continued as she squirmed. She hadn't wanted to admit that she had only gone off with Jess in a lame attempt to avoid Gail; for one thing it painted her in an extremely bad light. But she had recognised the signs of jealously earlier when Jess had come up in conversation. Despite knowing that she couldn't act on her attraction to the cop, for some reason she wanted Gail to know that she was single and not interested in her friend. It was leaving the door open, even if she didn't expect Gail to ever come walking through. The cop was straight, after all. She had to keep reminding herself of that.

"You didn't make a fool out of yourself," Gail told her. She couldn't work out what Holly was doing, but she automatically wanted to put her mind at rest anyway, and couldn't spend another couple of minutes seeing her fidget so uncomfortably.

Holly gave her a half smile and finally met the other woman's eyes. "I only realised this morning that that's what I was a bit scared of. I think that's why I said stupid things last night," she admitted.

Gail gazed at the dark eyes looking down at her and could see that Holly was being totally honest, not trying to make an excuse. Gail admired her for that. Before she could stop herself, she was making her own confession; "You know, I was scared that something had happened to you; that those guys had somehow got in and grabbed you. I lost it because I was scared, not because I was angry," she said, talking so quietly that Holly found it difficult to hear from the distance she was standing.

"It wouldn't have been your fault, Gail," Holly reassured her, thinking Gail was worried about failing.

However the police officer shook her head in response. "I wasn't scared that I'd screwed up my job. I was scared for you," she explained cautiously. She wasn't sure what she was trying to say here; she wanted Holly to know that this wasn't just a job, but she didn't want to say too much. She lifted her hand and ran it through her hair before rubbing the back of her neck. "I mean, we're friends yeah? And I don't want anything to happen to you, ok?"

Holly nodded and her smile widened. "Thanks, Gail," she replied, touched by that admission.

Just like that though, Gail's moment of sincerity was over. "Whatever. Go get a shower. You stink," she told Holly and shooed her with a hand. Holly blinked. How mercurial the blonde's mood were, she thought to herself. She couldn't keep up sometimes. Gail could go from melancholy, to irritated, to juvenile in the space of five minutes flat. It made Holly's head spin, but it drew her in like a moth to a flame, fascinated by the beautiful, flickering changes. Holly couldn't think of a suitable riposte, so settled for simply rolling her eyes and leaving the blonde happily working her way through her fourth doughnut.

Gail allowed herself a grin once Holly was out of sight. She felt glad they had cleared the air, which was an unusual feeling for her. Typically Gail Peck wallowed in letting things fester and dragging her fights out. She and Nick still hadn't really resolved Vegas for instance. But today, she had forgiven someone. And she had a day off and a box of doughnuts. Today was a good day.

The sound of thundering footsteps ruined her sense of wellbeing though, and she turned round once more to see Sanderson bouncing down the stairs.

"Morning Peckster!" he crowed. "I hear there are doughnuts?" Sanderson's grin almost blinded Gail. She debated feeding him just so he'd get lost, but then she remembered his act of treachery earlier when he'd tricked her into coming to the house.

Gail snapped the box shut smartly, and hopped off her stool, sauntering towards the door with it tucked safely under one arm. She reckoned she could probably manage another half hour in the van after all. "Nope. I ate them all, loser," she declared, and shut the door behind herself.


	9. Chapter 9

It was strange, Gail mused, how she would spend six days a week waiting for her day off to come along but then when it arrived, she spent the whole time looking forward to going back to work. This bodyguard gig was intense that was for sure. They were working around seventy two hours a week and although they did have plenty of downtime on shift, the effort of psyching themselves up to be focussed and alert even during the periods they were sat still was taxing. To be fair to McGregor, he was also putting in the time. This week he had done a couple of hours at changeover time on his spare days, allowing one of his team to knock off early or start late each day, as well as covering the four full days off each week.

It was a tough schedule though. Gail and Sanderson had both cracked and on two separate nights had spent half a night each crashed out in Holly's spare room, with the other one keeping a particularly vigilant watch. She had no idea how Chen and McNally were managing a break during the dayshift because it would be infinitely harder with Holly awake and on the move.

So the yesterday's night off had been well earned, and a welcome break. She had gone for a couple of beers at The Penny, meeting up with Traci as most of the others were on nights. The detective had grilled her about the work she was doing and Gail was convinced she had picked up some clues from Steve. Traci seemed pretty clued in. Steve was usually a master at subterfuge; it was a requirement of Guns and Gangs, but her brother was so head over heels for Nash that Gail suspected he was a little less circumspect around her.

However, after Traci had gone home to relieve the babysitter, Gail had found herself at a bit of a loss. She'd stuck around for a couple more at The Penny purely because the plan was to stay up most of the night so she didn't fall out of her current sleep pattern, but she had soon lost interest in drinking. She had ended up just heading back to the apartment and playing a few video games on her own. That's when she started wishing she was at Holly's anyway; at least she'd have a bit of company. They would have maybe played a board game or two. They had also agreed to start working their way through the Marvel comic films, starting with Iron Man which in Gail's not so humble opinion was definitely the coolest of all the heroes. It looked so much better on Holly's widescreen than the tiny portable that was shoved in the corner of Gail's own room.

Having said all that though, Gail had been nervous about returning to Holly's place after her break. They had talked about the fight and they had apologised (plus Holly had made doughnuts, obviously) but Gail knew she had left things unsaid. She suspected Holly had as well. Not to mention the feelings she had for the doctor that were still occupying her thoughts; they had been another reason she couldn't relax on her day off. Gail was therefore expecting a bit of an awkward atmosphere.

As it turned out, she needn't have worried. The moment she walked through the door, things were too hectic at Holly's to leave any space for uncomfortable moments. Chen and McNally were still there of course and as it was Sanderson's night off, McGregor was present to cover his shift. All three were sat grim faced around the table, and Holly was nowhere to be seen.

"What's happened?" Gail asked, now worrying for a different reason. All three officers turned to her, but they deferred to McGregor to answer.

"Doctor Stewart's mother has been targeted," he said solemnly.

"Is she ok?" Gail asked, before he could even give any more details. She knew Holly was pretty close to her parents and if something had happened then she would be devastated.

"She's fine," Andy quickly reassured the blonde, and Gail breathed a sigh of relief. She stalked over to the table and sat down in the remaining chair, waiting for the story.

"Mr and Mrs Stewart's protection detail had noticed their car being followed on a couple of occasions over the past week. Unfortunately they had no concrete evidence or opportunity to counteract this," McGregor explained. "But today, Mrs Stewart was out walking the dog - with two of our officers of course. A car mounted the sidewalk and drove straight toward her in a deliberate act. One of the officers was alert however and managed to push her out the way so no harm was done. The protection officers couldn't stop the car but they got a plate; the vehicle was found abandoned three blocks away,"

Gail caught Jacob Chen's eye and saw the stocky officer looked less than pleased at that news. "So, these guys from Kolarov's gang are definitely targeting the family in the hope of Kate keeping her mouth shut?" he asked.

McGregor nodded, "I think we can confirm there is a clear and viable danger, yes. We had the incident at the courthouse and this news from Vancouver only shows how wide their reach is. At the start of this brief, we had empty threats in the form of letters. Now we have at least two incidents where gang members have engaged our people,"

All four officers looked serious as they processed that. "So what do we do?" asked Gail, expecting a plan to ramp up security.

"I've recommended the Stewarts are put into the full protection programme and taken out the country for their own safety," McGregor said.

"Holly won't go," Gail told him immediately. She had no idea why she was so confident of that, but her gut said the doctor wouldn't leave her home and work unless she absolutely had to.

"Yes, she has already indicated as such," he replied with a frown. "The other option is a safe house; we have one ready and waiting. But with Dr Stewart still attending work, that potentially won't help matters. This house is secure, we know that. We are vulnerable when she is on the move, not here,"

"We're just going to have to be completely on the ball", Jake stated. "If we follow our procedures and keep focussed, we can keep everything contained here,"

The level of self-assurance Jake could emit with his shaved head, dark, steady eyes and muscled frame made even the usually mistrustful Gail feel confident that he was right.

"I agree," McGregor said. "Constant vigilance, that is what we need,"

Gail did try to hide her smirk, but Andy caught it and her puzzled response tipped Gail into a full blown smile. She wondered if McGregor realised he had just quoted a Harry Potter character? Come to think of it, he very much reminded her of Mad Eye Moody.

"Are you paying attention, Officer Peck?" he barked. "This is serious business,"

"Sorry, yes. I'm completely with you. We'll be even more careful," she replied.

"Make sure that you are. All of you," McGregor stared down each of his team, and seemed satisfied that they had got the message. "Ok, we're done here then. Chen and McNally, you may go. Peck, I believe I am manning the surveillance van tonight, Officer Sanderson tells me you did so last night,"

That wasn't true, Sanderson had done it last night but he knew how much Gail hated it so he must have told McGregor the opposite. Gail therefore simply nodded, and wished she had given the lanky cop a doughnut after all.

"Wait," McNally said as they all rose from the table, the brief conference over. "You need to go and speak to Holly, Gail," She looked at McGregor, gesturing with her eyes to remind him of something they had clearly discussed earlier.

"Ah yes, that's probably a good idea. Dr Stewart is a little bit upset," he said.

"So would I be if someone drove a car at my Mum," Gail answered, although she would put good money on Elaine coming off best against most vehicles anyway. And she wasn't sure she would be upset, per se, more like interested in the outcome for whichever maniac took on Superintendent Peck.

"Yes, that is part of the reason," McGregor agreed, and it was Andy who this time rolled her eyes and interjected, not willing to wait for him to spit it out.

"Her parents said yes to going into the full protection programme. They've flown out to join Kate, wherever she is. Holly didn't get a chance to speak to them before they left," she explained with a grimace.

"But Kate Stewart is fine!" McGregor quickly added, as if to cover his own insensitivity to the situation. "I had word from HQ earlier confirming there had been no problems at all at her location,"

Gail nodded, thinking that was a silver lining she could share with Holly as she would bet McGregor hadn't bothered.

"You should go check up on her, Gail. I tried earlier, but she gets on better with you than the rest of us," Andy suggested and Gail couldn't hold back her surprise at that statement. Was she closer with Holly than the rest of the team? She knew she spent more direct time with her than Sanderson, the two of them spending more time chatting and laughing together than he did. She had just assumed that was because Holly was more used to friendships with women, rather than it being her in particular. She had only seen Holly and McNally interact briefly so had no real comparison there.

"I'll go up in a minute," Gail told them and they nodded their agreement.

After the two day shift officers had left and McGregor had been packed off into the van, Gail did make her way upstairs. She knocked softly at Holly's closed bedroom door, and stepped through when she heard the muffled "Come in!"

She found Holly dressed in her workout gear, stretched out on the floor with her legs in the air as the sound of some gentle music played in the background.

"What are you doing?" Gail asked, bewildered by the scene. That could not be comfortable.

Holly dropped her legs and lay in a perfectly flat position, her chest rising and falling in time with the deep breaths she was taking. "Yoga," she said simply, her eyes shut. "What does it look like?"

"Torture," Gail replied, flopping down to sit on the bed and watch the strange ritual the surprisingly bendy pathologist was carrying out.

Holly didn't open her eyes, but laughed at Gail's less than impressed summation. "I'm not allowed to go running, so I have to clear my mind somehow," she defended herself.

"Hmmm. Reality TV, tequila and junk food. Not necessarily in that order, but all better options just so you know,"

"Maybe later," Holly mumbled, and she pulled her knees up her chest slowly, wrapping her arms around them and holding the pose steady.

Gail took the opportunity to look around Holly's bedroom, which she had only been in briefly prior to today. It was far more light and airy than her own room at the Frat house, and the oak furniture gave it a cosy yet modern feel. High shelves above the bed displayed a wide collection of books, and Holly had some sort of science journal on the bedside table, the pages incongruously marked with penguin shaped post it notes. She waited for Holly to relax the stretch before speaking again.

"They told me about your parents," she said. Holly's eyes still didn't open as she lay on the floor but Gail noticed her bite the inside of her lip. "I'm glad your Mum is ok," she continued.

"Yeah," Holly said softly. She rose to a seated position and opened her eyes to look at Gail.

"Are you ok?" Gail asked. Holly seemed to be alright, but Andy had said she was upset and she was definitely more monosyllabic than usual.

"I'm ok. Just a bit freaked out," was the response. Holly dug her fingers into the carpet, pushing the fibres into patterns near her feet.

"They'll be safe now," Gail told her. "Nothing will happen while they're out the country,"

"I hope so,"

"Kate is ok, she's absolutely fine. McGregor found out and told me earlier. I guess he didn't tell you?"

The flash of relief that flew across Holly's face told Gail that no, he hadn't. Idiot man. She smiled down at the other woman who did return it, albeit only a small smile rather than her usual wide grin.

"No he didn't. Thank you, that's good to know," Holly said.

"Do you miss her?" the cop asked, curious about Holly was dealing with this. They had spoken about Kate on one of the first nights Gail was here, but hadn't mentioned her more than in passing since.

"Yeah. And I worry about her. I just want it to be over and they can all come home. Vancouver was far enough, but now I don't even know which country they're in. I wish I had spoken to my parents before they had to leave," sighed Holly.

"You know you can change your mind and go with them, if you want?" Gail tentatively suggested, knowing that Holly was unlikely to agree. Sure enough the other woman shook her head straight away.

"No. I need to stay here, where my life is almost normal. I don't want to run and hide. I'm just going to miss being able to talk to them," she said sadly.

Gail knew that Holly spoke to her parents every couple of days, Sanderson still had her calls linked to his phone and had mentioned it. He didn't listen in to any of them now, after deciding they could trust her not to concoct some sort of plan to get away from the protection team. Gail still thought it was a stupid idea in the first place and knew that Andy felt the same. She wasn't sure about Chen and McGregor.

"I can't imagine talking to my mother as often as you do, and we live in the same city," she told Holly, feeling almost envious about her close relationship.

"We've always been close. I love that I can pick up the phone and talk to her about what's bothering me. She gives the best advice," Holly replied, her face falling at the thought of not having her mother on the end of the phone and hearing that advice. She had told her about Gail actually, and her Mum had been a god send. She hadn't dismissed it or told Holly not to be silly; she had just listened and helped her talk it through. When she couldn't get thoughts of Gail out of her head, Holly had called her mother and raved about the blonde for ten minutes, then after their fight she had done the same and told her everything that annoyed her about Gail. It was good to have an outlet, and she didn't know how she was going to process things without that sounding board. This attraction was already driving her mad.

"It's not the same, but you can talk to me if you want," Gail offered, before she had even realised she was going to.

"Not about everything…" Holly murmured quietly to herself, still thinking of how her Mum had listened to her monologues about Gail; how beautiful she was, her sarcasm, how she could be so aloof and yet so perceptive. She was pretty sure she shouldn't share that with Gail. Although her mother's opinion all along had been she should simply ask Gail out and tell her exactly that. I don't think so, Mum. Holly blinked and actually responded to Gail at a volume the other woman could hear. "Thanks, Gail. I'm glad you're here,"

"Well, it's all part of the service," Gail joked. "And I could be on the street chasing drug dealers and getting spat at, so you know, win win,"

Holly rolled her eyes. Yet another example of Gail deflecting a compliment. "Charming," she said and she sprang to her feet, the moment gone. She walked to the dresser which was on the other side of the bed to where Gail was sitting, near the window. As she started delving through the drawers for something to wear other than her yoga gear, she noticed the framed photo on the bedside table, so she paused and picked it up, holding it out in Gail's direction.

"This is them," she said, and Gail collapsed backwards on the bed in order to see.

She took the picture from Holly and held it above her head. The elder Stewart's flanked Holly, matching smiles filling all three faces and Holly's mortar board cap knocked slightly askew by her father leaning in too close.

"Graduation," Gail said. "They look proud of you,"

"That was my doctorate. You'd think they would have had enough of graduations after the first couple, but Dad said that free sandwiches were free sandwiches," Holly laughed, knowing full well her Dad had nearly exploded with pride at all of her graduations and had even cried at two of them.

"Have you got one of Kate?" asked Gail, handing back the frame from her prone position.

Holly reached up to the block shelves above the bed and pulled down another picture, this one a selfie of herself and a younger girl, clearly in London as they were standing in front of one of those guards with the ridiculous hats that never moved. Both were laughing hysterically. "We tried for a half hour to get him to smile," explained Holly.

"She's pretty," Gail commented, "She looks a lot like you,"

The brunette stilled, wondering if Gail realised she had just called her pretty. Within a few seconds though, she noticed she was now looming over Gail who was lying across her bed and those blue eyes were no longer studying the photograph, but Holly herself. Holly almost went to lean in further, those steely blue eyes pulling her in like a magnet but she swallowed hard and stopped herself. She turned away quickly, and pulled a sweater out of her drawer.

"Anyway, I'm going to have a shower. I was thinking of making pad Thai tonight; do you fancy that and a film maybe? Or a board game? We still haven't given Operation a go?" she asked, hopefully.

"A film sounds good, Lunchbox," Gail replied, ignoring the comment about Operation but taking the hint to leave Holly to it. She flipped herself up and off the bed. "I'll go check out your DVD collection and make sure you've got something for normal humans, not just the nerd brigade,"

Half an hour later, Holly came downstairs to find Gail sprawled on the couch, munching her way through a bag of Cheese Puffs.

"Hey, I thought you wanted dinner?" she chastised the blonde.

"This is an entrée!" Gail informed her.

"You are vile," Holly replied, shaking her head before changing the subject, "Did you pick out a film?"

"Well there are slim pickings, Doc, but we have two choices," Gail held out two cases over the back of the couch for Holly to take, and waited expectantly for an answer.

"Iron Man," she decided.

"But Star Wars is cool!"

"So is Iron Man!"

"Have you got Mission Impossible?"

"But you said to pick from these two?"

"You've got every single action film under the sun Holly; I had to narrow it down!"

"Fine. We'll do the Iron Man trilogy first, even though one of them sucks, then The Avengers, then Thor, then Captain America. Dinner first though," and with that Holly marched into the kitchen to start cooking.

"I don't think we can fit all those into one night," Gail mused, but the other woman didn't hear. She dropped the cases on to the coffee table and followed her through to the kitchen.

"Are you going to help?" asked Holly as she pulled pans out from the cupboards and set out her equipment.

"I'm here to watch over you Holly, not interfere, remember? It's my job to slide unobtrusively into the background," Gail said and smiled sweetly as she slid onto the bar stool.

"One day, Gail Peck, you'll cook for me. And I will sit and watch, drinking beer and passing comment," Holly told her.

"We'll see Nerd, we'll see," Gail responded. "Now don't forget – no egg, yeah?"

Holly threw a tea towel at her and it dropped neatly over the cop's head, but it didn't drown out the cackles of laughter. At least it stopped Gail from seeing that Holly was smiling too though.

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 **A/N: Interesting fact of the day, this chapter had exactly the same number of words as the previous one. Or at least, it did until I wrote this note. Darn. Up next; Sanderson gives them "the talk". Gail's not usually one for taking advice on board; but she likes this guy. She pretends that she doesn't, but I'm pretty sure she does.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I have had a very productive couple of days writing, so I can post two chapters in two days. Which I am excited about, because I think this one might be my favourite chapter of the whole story. I don't know why; I just like it! Hope you guys do too.**

 **Cheers,**

 **Sam**

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Living in the frat house, Gail hadn't much use for an alarm clock. She was usually woken by whatever uproar the boys were creating that day, so she had quite enjoyed her recent pattern of crawling out of bed in the middle of the afternoon and having the place to herself to potter about before her shift at Holly's. She was therefore quite surprised to wake to the sound of banging pans that afternoon, not to mention decidedly pissed off. She lay there quietly for a few minutes, wondering whether she could snooze for a little while longer but the smell of bacon soon changed her mind on that one. She threw on some jeans and ventured out into the kitchen to investigate.

"Hey Gail," said Chris as he flipped pancakes on the stove.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" she asked, irritated by this intrusion into her new daily routine.

"Night shift," he told her, and she scowled as she remembered that. Chris didn't notice though, turning the heat off and stacking half the pancakes on a plate before sliding it across the counter to Gail.

"For me?" Gail asked, suspiciously.

"Sure," Chris replied, plating up his own pancakes and drizzling syrup over them.

"Why?" Gail poked the pancakes gingerly, scared that this may be another of Chris' weird food experiments.

Chris sat down at the table with his food, and pushed out another chair for his house mate. "We haven't seen much of you lately, what with this assignment. I just thought it would be nice to have breakfast together, you know, catch up?"

Gail helped herself to bacon, and sat down opposite him. Sometimes, Diaz amazed her with how sweet he could be, the big sap. They were never right for each other, the two of them, but she was glad they were still friends. Not that she would ever tell Chris that of course and stuck to her usual sarcasm in lieu of thanks; "It's not really breakfast at three pm, Diaz,"

"You make your own time on nights," he grinned, shovelling pancakes into his mouth.

This was the second time in a week someone had made breakfast for her, Gail thought, remembering Holly's doughnuts. Before that, the last time anyone had made her breakfast was Nick...and he'd done tomatoes and eggs. This was nice, she decided, tucking into her pancakes and listening to Chris waffle on about all that she had missed at Fifteen over the past week or so. Maybe not as nice as Holly's doughnuts and breakfast chat, but good nonetheless.

"We're missing you though, of course," Chris declared, as he finished his round up of recent happenings at Fifteen.

"Yeah, whatever," she replied, knowing that the department wouldn't really care one way or another if she was there or not.

"Sure we do. Hey, you should ride in with me today. You could hang out for an hour or two before you start work," Chris suggested.

Gail almost said no straight away, but Chris' earnest grin made her think again. It could be fun to drop into the station, say hi to Oliver, rag Dov a little. She could even stroll over to the morgue and meet up with Holly there, grab a lift to her place in the security car.

"Ok. You people need someone to check up on you anyway, make sure you're not stuffing it all up whilst I'm gone," she sassed.

"You're all heart, Gail Peck. So, how's your undercover gig going?" Chris finally got around to asking the question Gail knew was on his mind.

"Good," she told him, with a noncommittal shrug, hoping he would take the hint.

However, clearly Chris wasn't going to leave it at that. "Are you getting anywhere?" he probed.

"Chris, you know I can't tell you the details," she warned.

"I know, I know," he said, holding his hands up. "I'm not asking. I'm just...checking up on you I guess. Are you ok?"

Gail softened a little. She knew why Chris was concerned. He had seen a lot of the Perik aftermath first hand, and that was the last time she had gone undercover. She wished she could tell him that this wasn't anything like that situation...she wasn't actually undercover. There was no character to play, no fake life to create. She remembered the nerves that had crept up on her when she had played the escort that fateful night. She had thought she was ready but in her rush to be authentic, she realised how out of her depth she was. It was only when she had stopped pretending and let her real self show that she had been able to settle into the job that night. Gail had often thought about that fact since. The guard that she had put up around herself with the goal of being better; a better officer and a better person, was actually more effective when it was down.

That realisation had stayed with Gail, and she was listening to it more and more often. But right now, the cover story was there for a reason; to protect Holly. And that had become very important to Gail.

"I'm fine Chris. Honestly," she said, looking directly at him in an effort to make him see she was sincere.

"But is it dangerous, what you're doing?" he persisted.

Gail hesitated, not knowing quite how to answer that one. So far, the witness protection thing had been ridiculously easy. Sure they had a lot of protocols to follow and rules to adhere to, and there had been that unsettling day at the courthouse. Not to mention the mess of that night in the bar. But that was a misunderstanding. McGregor kept warning them of the danger Kolarov's people could pose, and how they couldn't be complacent. But right now, Gail felt almost like she was just hanging out at her new friend's house, not working.

"It's ok," she told Chris, but the way she had paused obviously worried him.

"Just be careful, Gail, yeah?"

"I will be," she assured him, both touched and annoyed at his concern. She rolled her eyes, trying to put an end to the conversation. Chris didn't drop it though.

"I don't want you to get hurt. We've had enough friends get hurt lately. Just tell me you've got someone watching your back, because I'm not happy that you haven't got any of our team there with you," he said.

Gail stared at him. In some ways, Chris was the glue that bound their group together. The fact that the thing that bothered him was that he felt Gail was out there on her own struck a chord with her. She had always felt like she was out on her own but over the past few years she had settled into this group, even if she did hover on the edges at times. For Chris to firmly include her as one of them felt good. She couldn't placate him by telling him about Andy though. Nor explain how Sanderson was turning out to be a great partner, and maybe a good friend.

"I'm working with some good people Chris. And I've got my eyes open, don't worry. This job is important," she explained. She went to rise up from the table, but Chris stood too and put his hand on her plate before she could clear it.

"And you feel ok about it yeah? I mean, after Perik?"

"Diaz!" Gail said, her voice pained. She didn't really want to go there. She hated cold twist of pain that still shot through her guts from such a direct question. She had just about got her feelings about what had happened with Perik straight in her head, but talking about it was another story.

"I'm sorry. But I know it must be weird for you, being in the same sort of situation now. I'm just worried about you, that's all," he said, gently.

"It's not like that," Gail started.

"Yeah yeah, I know you can't say anything. But I'm not stupid, Gail. Undercover, nights only. You're on some sort of escort thing again. It must be difficult to deal with," Chris deduced, and he moved round the table to touch her arm lightly.

Gail stood there, looking up at him. What could she say to him? Chris was stressed because he thought she was on a similar job to the one where she had nearly lost her life, and had pretty much lost everything else. It was sweet of him to be concerned, but she couldn't explain that he didn't need to be. If she told him she wasn't pretending to be an escort, he would start wondering what she was doing…and maybe he would come to a more accurate conclusion next time.

"It won't be anything like that this time, Chris. Just trust me," she settled for, imploring him to pick up the vibe she was trying to silently pass across to him.

"Fine. If you're sure," he said, dropping his hand and nodding at her to let her know he would leave it there.

Gail took that as an opportunity to escape this awkward situation. Chris was only trying to help, and she didn't want to lie outright to him. "I've got to get ready," Gail told him, moving away and heading down the hallway.

"Gail!" Chris called, and as she turned she saw him leaning against the kitchen door frame, watching her. "Just promise me something, yeah?" he asked.

"What?"

"Just if you ever get into trouble, or if you ever need something, call me. You don't have to give me details or tell me what is going on. I won't ask questions. But if there is anything I can do if things don't go to plan, if there is something you need then just call me. Please?" Chris's face was deadly serious.

"I'll be fine," she responded automatically, ignoring the peculiar sense of security that settled across her at his statement.

"I know you will. So you won't have to call. But just in case...?"

Gail thought about it, and finally nodded. "I will," she said. It could never hurt to have someone who had got her back.

"Promise me?" Chris asked, not willing to settle for just that.

"Oh God, get lost you loser! I promise, ok!?" Gail groaned and threw open the door to her room, striding in and slamming it shut behind her.

"Good enough," Chris yelled, smiling as he turned back towards the kitchen. He picked up the dishes from the table, satisfied with Gail's agreement. As he carried them over to the sink, he heard a door open behind him.

"Hey, Chris?" Gail called, sticking her head round the door frame. "Thanks."

"No problem, Gail," she said.

"For breakfast, I mean," Gail clarified, before shutting her door once again.

Chris laughed. "You're welcome to that too, Gail," he said, shaking his head at the brazen front his former girlfriend projected. He knew what she meant. And she knew that he knew. So they would both quite happily pretend it was all about breakfast, without ruining the Peck reputation. He was pretty sure he'd never quite work Gail Peck out completely, but he felt like he had reached the stage where he could read the parts she didn't say. He looked forward to the day where someone came along and brought those parts of her into the open.

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Gail hadn't realised she missed being at the station until she strolled through the pen with Chris later that evening. She found the low buzz of the place soothing; in the same way that some people liked to switch the TV on when they were home alone for background noise, Gail found that even the echoes of some drunk shooting his mouth off down in booking gave her a certain sense of peacefulness.

She returned the greetings of her colleagues as she made her way towards her target – the open box of muffins perched on the edge of the desk Dov was using. The stealth tactics she had been practising on her perimeter checks of Holly's place came in handy as she snuck up on him and snagged one before he had even noticed her presence. This was turning into a good day for food.

"Hey Dov," she said, flicking the back of his head affectionately.

Dov frowned when he saw one of his muffins disappearing in approximately three bites, but returned the greeting nonetheless.

"Hi Gail. How's it going?"

Gail shrugged, unable to answer with her mouth full of her latest sugar hit and that gave Chloe the chance to butt in.

"Gail! Hi! It's been ages since you've been in! Have you got the night off from your assignment? Are you on shift? Maybe we could ride together, because I have A LOT of questions about your assignment. I haven't really done undercover yet and…" Chloe's rhetoric was bought to an abrupt end as Gail shoved a muffin into her open mouth.

"No, I'm not on shift; I'm still on UC duty. But I rode in with Chris so I could check up on you losers. Make sure you're not slacking whilst I'm not around," Gail told her.

"Everything is under control, Gail," Dov drawled, even as Chloe coughed up a piece of half chewed cake onto one of his files. In his attempt to hastily wipe it up, Dov knocked over his coffee mug and as the hot liquid pooled on the desk and dripped steadily off the edge onto the computer tower, there was a pop of electricity, a wisp of smoke and the screen in front on him went blank. "Shit," he cursed.

"I can see that, Epstein," Gail replied, raising an eyebrow at the mess unfurling in front of her. Chloe ran off to get some napkins as Dov gazed helplessly at his ruined work. Chris sniggered at his friend's plight, which drew Dov's attention.

"I blame you for this," he said, pointing at Chris.

"What? Me?" Chris asked, the grin leaving his face.

"You bought her here!" Dov told him, gesturing at Gail and lifting dripping papers out of the coffee lake. Gail stuck her middle finger up at him and delicately removed the muffin box out of the pool.

Chloe returned with a roll of paper towels and she and Dov began cleaning up the mess.

"So, is it exciting?" Chloe asked.

"What?" Gail replied, her attention on the muffins once more.

"The undercover work! I can't believe you're going to be on this job for all these weeks. Are you inside a gang or something, or is it surveillance and stake outs? " Chloe asked.

"She can't tell you," Dov and Chris both interjected, in unison.

"I know!" Chloe responded. "I'm just interested. Especially with it being such a long time. Andy and Nick both said that when they were on their assignment, it was difficult to remember who they really were sometimes, because they spent so long in their roles. Everything blurred together and they started to change and…well, you know, it was difficult," she tailed off lamely when she noticed Gail's icy glare and Chris and Dov frantically gesturing at her to shut up from behind the desk. Chloe had the good grace to look embarrassed at bringing up the touchy subject around Gail, but the blonde officer wasn't about to let her off the hook.

"Yeah. Well I think Andy and Nick maybe got a little too into character. It won't be happening to me," Gail gave Chloe a withering glance and pointedly told her; "And it's great to know you've all been having these in depth discussions about what happened on that assignment,"

"It's not like that, Gail," Dov said, trying to come to his girlfriend's rescue.

"Sure it's not," she replied, wondering why she had bothered coming here today. She hadn't thought about what had happened between Nick and Andy for a while, but that didn't mean she could casually discuss how they had got together in front of her friends.

Chloe scrunched her face up in anxiety, worried that she had upset her colleague. "I'm just saying; it must be hard work. And especially for you after what happened last time,"

Gail almost laughed. First Chloe brought up the Nick disaster, then she moved straight onto Jerry. Was she deliberately trying to wind Gail up? Both the boys were wincing at the mention of Gail's last undercover, but Chloe simply ploughed on oblivious. Her next words surprised Gail however.

"You look good though Gail. More relaxed. Maybe sometimes it's good to be someone else," she wondered.

The lack of guile on Chloe's face made it difficult for Gail to bite back at that. She knew Price was a rambler, but how she could go from being so dense in one moment, to so perceptive in the next was disconcerting to say the least. She felt good right now - she was enjoying work, she'd made a new friend...she was relaxed. Even if it was increasingly hard to remember to refer to Holly as just that; a friend. The plan of ignoring the crush was working, but it was tricky. Anyway, she hadn't expected any of her colleagues to notice; it wasn't that bigger change, surely?

"Better not let the Superintendent hear that," Chris' voice cut through Gail's musings. "She was here the other day, giving Frank grief about public image and what we were doing to raise our profile. I don't think she meant we should give out the 'chill out; join the police force' message,"

"Well that's one benefit to these night shifts, missing out on that," Gail said, with a grimace. She glanced up at the glass windows of Frank's office, almost nervous that her mother would still be up there, watching over her. Instead, she was surprised to see McNally and Traci leaving the room and making their way down the stairs towards the group. Craning her neck further, she saw Holly perched on one of the chairs in the office, talking animatedly to Frank and Swarek.

"What are you doing here?" Gail demanded when Andy pulled up a chair alongside where they were all gathered at Dov's desk.

"Hello to you too, Gail," Andy replied, giving her a pointed look as Traci greeted everyone.

Ah. That's right, Gail remembered; why would she care where Andy was? Thankfully the rest of the officers didn't seem to notice Gail's sudden curiosity in Andy's whereabouts, and Dov soon interjected to turn the conversation away from that.

"She's just racking up a bit more evidence towards the restraining order," he said, and the other officers all laughed as Andy rolled her eyes

"What?" Gail asked, confused.

"Andy has had a change of career in recent weeks," Chris joined in the ribbing and neatly avoided the paperclip that Andy flicked at him.

"Yeah, she's become a private investigator," Dov said, which only served to baffle Gail all the more.

"What are you guys talking about? A private investigator?"

"You know; a stalker with a pay check!" Dov explained, much to the hilarity of the others.

"Very funny guys. That one gets better every time you tell it," Andy deadpanned, looking thoroughly fed up at being the butt of everyone's jokes again.

"Come on guys, lay off," Traci said, putting her arm round Andy's shoulders. "Andy's not a stalker..."

"Thanks, Trace," McNally replied, leaning into her friend.

"She's more like a work experience kid!" Traci finished, and laughed as Andy shoved her away.

Gail finally caught up to the joke; "Ah, the job shadowing thing," she said, looking at Andy and struggling to keep a straight face. She almost felt sorry for McNally, taking all this stick just because of a cover story. But when she thought back to Chloe's earlier comment, the sympathy kind of disappeared.

"Hmm. I'm glad you all think this assignment is hilarious," Andy said, staring daggers at the gang.

As the brunette frowned, Traci finally relented and came to her friend's rescue. "Ok, ok, we'll leave it. But you've got to admit, it is a little bit funny,"

"Well you lot can laugh it up all you like. It might be a PR stunt, but actually, I've already learnt loads. And the next time we're on a case and forensics get involved, you guys will be eating my dust. Some of the stuff they can do with evidence is amazing. And Dr. Stewart is pretty cool too," Andy stated.

"Yeah she is," Gail agreed, again without thinking and this time the group did look curiously at her. She groaned internally. She really needed to pull herself together, and stop making a mess of this situation. But every time Holly's name came up, it almost seemed like she couldn't stop her thoughts spilling out. She couldn't explain it; Gail was well aware that she might not have many close friends, and she was still surprised that she had suddenly found a really good one out of nowhere. But why on earth having Holly in her life had made her lose her carefully guarded circumspection, she had no idea.

"How do you know the new pathologist?" Doc asked, suspiciously.

Several lies ran through Gail's head in quick succession, but she settled for playing the safest card she had right now; "I can't tell you," she said after a short pause, and she stared straight at Dov hoping he wouldn't question her any further. It wasn't exactly a lie of course, but these constant insinuations of an undercover gig were becoming uncomfortable.

"Your assignment has got forensics involved?" Dov queried, looking puzzled.

She shrugged, and turned away from him. Chris leant over and tapped her on the shoulder. "Please be careful," he whispered in her ear, looking worried at the news that dead bodies were somehow involved in her work. Gail felt a twinge of guilt at how concerned Chris was. The group fell silent for a moment as they all processed this information. At the end of the day, they were all police officers and therefore innately curious. If somebody gave any one of them half a story, they couldn't help try to figure out the rest of it. Andy pulled a face at Gail, and the blonde knew that when she saw her colleague later at the handover time she was going to get a lecture on not letting information slip.

Traci was the one to break the silence, which Gail figured was yet another clue that she knew something about this assignment, "Well good for you anyway Andy. Brushing up on the forensics side is going to help you in the future that's for sure. I didn't know anything about it before I made detective,"

Chloe had a slightly different take on things however, "What I don't get is how come you got the cool undercover job Gail, and you're stuck with the PR thing Andy. Did you guys flip a coin?"

"Peck's blood is bluer than McNally's," Dov said, with a curl of his lip.

"Maybe they were just looking for a good cop," Gail explained, shaking her head at the chip Dov still had on his shoulder about her family connections, "And either way, you weren't chosen for anything Epstein,"

Just as Dov was about to retort, and a possible argument start, there was movement in the offices above where the group sat. Frank and Sam were standing, shaking hands with Holly.

"Looks like the meeting is over," Traci said.

"Holly did the autopsy on a murder victim for one of Sam's cases. She thinks she's found something useful," Andy explained, as the officers watched the group leave Frank's office.

"Swarek definitely looks happy," said Chris, looking at Sam's wide grin. The detective gave Holly a quick pat on the back before virtually jogging off towards the pen, clearly a man on a mission.

Frank looked around for Andy and frowned when he saw the officers sat around Dov's desk. "Hey! What are we paying you people for, a coffee morning? Unless you want to be on traffic detail, you had better all not be still sitting about by the time I get back up those stairs!" he yelled.

Gail nearly got caught up in the rush as everyone leapt up and moved to make busy. She said a quick goodbye to everyone, before jogging after Andy who was already heading towards booking with Holly.

"Hey, McNally!" she called, stopping her colleague in her tracks. She smiled at Holly as she caught up with the other two women. "I'll take the rest of your shift, if you like?"

"Really?" Andy asked, in a surprised tone.

Gail shrugged, "Sure." She hadn't come here with the intention of making that offer, but when she saw Holly the idea had just popped into her head. She wouldn't mind spending an extra couple of hours with the pathologist; they still had the last Iron Man film to watch before moving onto Thor. Plus maybe Holly would cook if they got back early enough.

"Why?" said Andy, looking suspicious. Gail Peck didn't do favours at the best of times, and she knew full well that she was definitely off the blonde's Christmas card list. It was therefore strange that Gail would offer to cover some time for her, without any sort of prompting at all.

"I owe you one for the day I had to pull both shifts. And it's only a couple of hours," she said, trying to sound unconcerned either way. "I came here to hang out for a bit, but now Frank has given them all a rocket, I'll only be sat around in the way,"

"Ok then, sure," McNally said. It might be weird, but she wasn't going to turn an offer like this down and wondered if she could catch up with Sam before he left the station. It had been a while since they had talked. And Nick wouldn't mind….

"Jake is outside. Give him a ring and he'll bring the car through into the sally port and you won't even need to do a transfer in the open," Andy continued.

"Great. Chen can spend the last couple of hours with us at Holly's place, then Sanderson will be there,"

"Oh! We're not going straight back to mine this evening," Holly said, with a grin. She had watched the exchange between Andy and Gail in silence, but Gail couldn't help but think she looked pleased at the news Gail would be hanging around for an extra few hours. Maybe it was wishful thinking. Holly might be her friend, but she was one of those people that everyone liked; she already had plenty of friends to hang out with.

"Right. Where are we headed then?" she asked.

"McGregor has given me a hall pass to go let off some steam!" Holly told her.

Gail was nonplussed. That didn't sound like McGregor. "Really? Today?" It had only been a couple of days since the news about Holly's parents. After all the talk about being extra vigilant, she was surprised the sergeant had agreed to allow Holly out.

"Well, I've been bugging him enough about running that I think he saw this as a compromise. He's checked out the place apparently, and thinks it's safe. Plus I think he's feeling bad about my parents, so he caved on this," Holly told her, her eyes dancing with happiness.

Those sparkling brown eyes almost distracted Gail completely, but she caught the reference to running. "Are we going to the gym?" she asked cautiously. Gail hated gyms and furrowed her eyebrows at the thought of it.

Andy laughed at the frown on Gail's face. "Don't worry Gail, you'll enjoy it! Even if it is sports related," she said, winking at Holly, "I'll see you ladies tomorrow – have fun!" McNally trotted off, before Gail could ask any more details.

"Come on. I'm excited!" Holly said, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet as she grabbed Gail's arm and pulled her towards the port. Gail couldn't help smile back at Holly's enthusiasm; but where on earth was this little outing that McGregor had agreed? She didn't like the mention of sport...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"No way," Gail firmly stated. She leant up against the wire fencing and shook her head at the wooden bat Holly offered her. She had just watched Holly face fifteen balls that can't have been launched at much less than a hundred miles per hour. She couldn't think of anything less appealing than having her front teeth knocked out by one of these small, round projectiles.

"Come on! It's cathartic," wheedled Holly, her face slightly flushed from the exertion.

"I'm working. And I don't do sports," she said, in a flat tone which put an end to Holly's attempt to persuade her. Holly stuck her tongue out at Gail through the grill of her helmet, and turned back to the pitching machine.

Gail watched as Holly connected with the first ball out of the machine and sent it sailing off into the glare of the floodlights, before turning back to scan the crowd at the batting cages. She carefully examined all the people within the immediate vicinity of Holly's cage, looking for anyone who was paying them any attention or seemed out of place. However everyone seemed focussed on their own batting practice, from the dad and his young son next door to them to the group of young men laughing and joking at the far end of the row.

She heard the steady thunk of leather on wood from behind her as Holly fell into an easy hitting rhythm. Gail didn't know how much time Holly spent here, but judging by how good the other woman was at smashing the missiles the machine was hurling at her, she guessed it wasn't a one off visit. Apart from the whole pointless exercise of swinging a bat at a tiny, tiny ball it wasn't a bad place to hang out, Gail thought. The bright floodlights focused your attention on the area beyond the cages and the battered sponsorship logos plastered on the metal fencing, but gave the place a hazy glow. She could smell the burgers and hot dogs sizzling on the grill near the kiosk where Holly had forked over some hard earned cash for an hour of torture, and quite frankly they were making her hungry. She had also been reliably informed the kiosk sold beer but she would have to forgo that particular pleasure whilst working.

Gail glanced round the crowd again, noting that nobody had particularly changed positions or come closer to Holly. They had been here half an hour and no-one had paid them the slightest bit of attention, but McGregor was outside checking out anyone who entered and so it was her and Chen's job to make sure the people already inside weren't a threat. It seemed unlikely, but Gail was already used to the sheer amount of concentration and attention to detail this protection job required.

She shifted positions slightly and looked up to where Jacob Chen was striding around the raised area near the food counter. Chen acknowledged her with a wave and gave her the ok sign. She responded in kind just as a loud cheer from the guys on the end of the row startled her. Gail watched as they rattled the fence and catcalled as one of their number stood to face the ball, swinging wildly and missing completely. Sniggering, Gail turned back towards Chen and pulled a face. He grinned and mimed lifting a glass to his mouth, the universal sign for someone who had drunk too much. Yet another solid crack came from behind her as Holly caught another ball sweetly and Gail watched as Holly took on the final two balls of her round, connecting well with both.

Holly raised both arms above her head in a mock salute and lifted her bat to point at an imaginary crowd, as if to acknowledge their cheers. Gail gave her a slow hand clap as Holly walked over to stand opposite her with the wire fencing separating them.

"Why thank you ma'am," she said with a wide grin.

Gail couldn't help smirk at Holly's foolishness. "Do you celebrate every success like you've just won the World Series?" she asked.

"Go hard or go home, Peck," Holly responded. "I like to give things my all,"

"I bet," Gail murmured, raising her eyebrows.

Holly couldn't hold her gaze and blushed a little. She wasn't sure whether Gail meant to come across as flirty with that comment, but the tone of her voice had gone dangerously low. Break the mood Stewart, she told herself.

"Your turn," she said, offering the bat to Gail again.

"No. I am not standing in front of a hundred mile an hour missile with just a plank of wood and a tin hat to protect me!" Gail refused. She would have continued complaining, but Holly chose that moment to pull off her helmet. Gail stared fixatedly as Holly pulled the tie from her hair and shook it out, sending ripples through her long dark tresses before flicking her neck to toss it over one shoulder. It was as sexy as hell and Gail swallowed hard as the sudden impulse to run her hands through the mess of dark brown waves coursed through her.

Gail could see Holly's mouth opening and closing and knew the other woman was trying to speak to her, but she couldn't concentrate on the words. Where on earth had that thought come from? It was pretty obvious Holly was a beautiful woman, and Gail had admired her before. But it was in a purely subjective way; girls were always commenting on how other women looked, weren't they? She had already acknowledged that she had a crush on Holly. But this wasn't the dallied daydream kind of crush; she had never felt such a jolt of pure lust towards another woman before. And over such a clichéd move as well! She felt like a teenage boy catching a glimpse at a tame girly magazine for the first time. Oh God. She was definitely attracted to Doctor Holly Stewart. This wasn't just a crush. This was a full blown wanting, and she could feel it flooding through her body.

"Hey! Earth to Gail!" Finally, Holly's words made it through the fog that was surrounding Gail.

"What?" she asked.

"Fifty!" Holly said, with a puzzled look on her face. "Did you just zone out on me? What did you see?" she asked, looking around trying to spot if Gail had noticed a potential problem.

"What? Fifty what?" Gail repeated again, still trying to get her head around her recent realisation.

"The pitching! It's only fifty miles per hour!" Holly said, shaking her head as if that were obvious. And Gail supposed it might have been if she had been following the conversation rather than mentally undressing her companion. Holly moved to one side and came through the gate in the fence. She approached Gail and held out the bat and helmet. Gail took them, still somewhat dazed, and allowed herself to be propelled into the cage without thinking about it.

She came back to the real world when Holly plonked the bright blue helmet on her head and tightened the strap.

"Holly, I'm at work! I can't slack off and play softball!" she protested, thinking that McGregor would flip out if he saw this.

"Chen says it's fine. And it won't kill you to try something new," Holly said, pointing up at where Jake was stood. He grinned and gave them the thumbs up, but tapped his watch as if to tell them to hurry up. "Just a few pitches," Holly promised and she stepped back out of the cage doorway.

"Ready?" Holly called, reaching across to press the large red button.

"As I'll ever be," Gail muttered, and she raised the bat and tensed her muscles. She narrowed her eyes at the red light in front of her and flexed her fingers around the grip of the bat. She shuffled her feet and waited expectantly as Holly hit the button.

The ball shot out from the machine and all that preparation went completely to waste as soon as Gail saw it flying towards her. She shrieked like a five year old girl, flung the bat across the floor and threw herself against the fencing out of the firing line. Gail had a split second to realise she had just completely humiliated herself in front of the person she had a raging crush on, before Holly's peals of laughter cut through the air.

"Actually, it might kill you!" Holly gasped through her laughter.

Gail tried to be upset at how amusing Holly seemed to find this, but she couldn't help but start giggling herself when she saw the brunette creasing up with laughter. She guessed it was pretty funny. And Holly laughing with such glee was actually very cute. "I told you I didn't like sports!" she said to Holly, without being able to stop the embarrassed giggling.

Holly only laughed harder when Gail pouted at her, "Oh God, and you're the one who's supposed to be protecting me!" she howled, leaning against the fence for support.

"From bad guys with guns! Not from rocket propelled softballs!" Gail retorted, although she was still laughing at herself. "I'm leaving!" she said, stalking past Holly with the helmet still perched on top of her head.

Holly collapsed into another fit of giggles at Gail's antics. She glanced up at Chen, who simply shook his head in disgust at Gail's attempt which only served to amuse Holly all the more. Gail's attempt had been utterly pathetic, but Holly thought it was kind of adorable how bad she had actually been. And the giggling was really cute. "Wait, Gail! Come and have another go! I'll help!" she called, trotting in the direction the cop had gone, still chuckling softly. She was having far too much fun with Gail to let the evening finish here. And she really wanted to see the blonde face another pitch!

"Gail! Come back!"


	11. Chapter 11

It took Gail a couple of days to get over her batting cage humiliation, which Holly thought was both entertaining and ridiculous. She herself hadn't ribbed Gail too much about it to be fair, but unfortunately Jake had taken great delight in sharing the story with Andy and Scott, and they of course weren't going to pass up a good opportunity to wind their colleague up. In fact at handover time yesterday, Holly had walked into the kitchen to find Jake re-enacting the moment using a rolling pin from the drawer, much to the amusement of the others. However, they had soon shut up when Gail had threatened to insert the rolling pin somewhere rather painful.

The dramatic announcement of that threat (which Gail insisted was actually a promise) seemed to draw a line under things and certainly tonight's shift handover had been a far quieter and more professional affair. That may have also had something to do with the fact that Holly had to work late, so Sanderson and Gail had taken over from the others at the lab rather than in the safety of Holly's own home. The ride home had also been pretty quiet; Sanderson was worried he had spotted a tail, so they took a rather circuitous route round the city. Nothing materialised however, but by the time she got home Holly was tired and fed up. Hence she had decided to have a lazy evening.

The two police officers were more than happy with that plan, so by nine that evening they were all spread out over Holly's living room, waiting for their pizza order to arrive and bickering about what to watch on the TV.

"Let's just put a DVD on," complained Gail as she watched Sanderson channel surf.

"Football?" he suggested hopefully, coming across a game and ignoring his partner completely.

"No!" both women shot down the suggestion simultaneously and so he continued to travel through the sports channels.

"Who put you in charge of the remote anyway?" Gail asked in an irritated voice. She stretched a foot out from her perch on the left side of the couch towards where Sanderson sat on the floor and kicked him in the shoulder.

"It's a man's job," Sanderson said, looking up at her and grinning at the look of disgust he received, "Everybody knows that the man of the house is always in charge of the remote!"

Holly took advantage of his distraction and leant over Scott's shoulder from her seat on the other end of the couch, grabbing the control from his hands. "Not in my house, Officer!" she told him and began her own channel surfing session.

"NCIS?" she said hopefully as the show popped up.

"Seriously?" Gail asked, "You're a pathologist, you can't actually watch that drivel?"

"I like to pick the holes in their methods," Holly told her, sounding almost excited at the prospect.

Gail shook her head and raised her eyebrows at Sanderson who shrugged in response. "Put a film on, Holly. We're not going to find anything," she instructed and pointed at the cabinets where she knew Holly's films were stored.

Holly had to agree, so she stopped hitting the change channel button and went to get up to go and find a film they could watch, hoping that the three of them didn't start the same argument about that as well. However as she did so she noticed the show she had stopped on.

"Wait, Doctor Who!" she exclaimed.

"Surely you've seen this one?" Gail responded. She recognised this episode as being a few years old and Holly was the biggest nerd she had ever met, so she must have seen it.

"Yeah, but is River Song in it? I'll watch anything with her in again," Holly said with a frown as she tried to remember the exact storyline of this one. She was balanced on the edge of the couch, caught halfway between standing up and her seated position.

"Really? You have the hots for River Song?!"Gail asked in an incredulous tone, staring at the brunette. She could only see the profile of Holly's face and the back of her neck, but didn't miss the red flush creeping up her skin.

"Erm…no?" Holly answered, entirely unconvincingly and without looking back at Gail.

"Hey, each to their own Doc! No judging here. But she's got an awful lot of hair…" Gail grinned, enjoying the other woman's discomfort.

Holly frowned, knowing Gail was mocking her. "It's nothing to do with how she looks," she tried to defend herself, "She's just all….badass and cool, marching around with her gun and the heels and the lipstick, in charge of everything…" Holly trailed off, lost in her own thoughts and Gail laughed at her again.

Sanderson was watching the women banter back and forth and felt thoroughly lost. He caught Gail's eye and quirked an eyebrow at her. He would expect this from Holly, but he didn't have Gail down as a secret nerd too.

"Who the heck is River Song?" he asked, staring at his partner.

The expression that crossed Gail's face was akin to a kid who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Er…yeah. That's what I meant to say too," she said, with a feeble shrug at him and he simply shook his head in disappointment. They both turned their attention back to Holly, who was apparently still watching the show, but Gail suspected her head may be filled with a different character to those that were on screen.

"Hey!" Sanderson called. "Earth to Holly! Are we having that film or what?"

"Yeah sure," she replied, but didn't make any move to sort it out.

Both police officers waited a beat, before Gail took matters into her own hand. "Oh for Pete's sake! River Song isn't in this one, she doesn't re-appear in this season until 'A Good Man Goes To War' which is in, like, three episodes time. This one just has that crazy woman who has consumed the TARDIS' matrix," she finished her diatribe by jumping up off the sofa and marching over to the storage unit. With her back to the room, she sorted through the DVDs, looking for the one she had spotted earlier that week. "And you can shut up Sanderson!" she called over her shoulder.

Scott shut his mouth and swallowed the jibe he was about to toss at his partner, whereas Holly actually looked impressed at Gail's knowledge. Yet another surprise from Gail Peck, she thought. Any woman who was a Doctor Who fan gained serious points in her book.

Just at that moment, Gail's phone rang and she answered it with a barked "What?" She listened to the caller and put the phone down without another word. "Pizzas are here," she told the others as she turned back round. They had told the delivery place to get their guy to wait half a block down, which was probably over cautious but inviting any stranger to knock on Holly's door right now was out of the question.

"Off you go then," Sanderson said, jerking his thumb at the door.

"You go! I'm sorting the film!" Gail scornfully replied.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" he suggested and she nodded confidently. They both counted to three and showed their hand.

"No freaking way!" Gail said in disbelief when she lost.

"Hurry up Peck, they're getting cold!" Sanderson told her smugly and he chuckled in delight at Gail's disgust.

Gail glared at him, and tossed the Iron Man 2 DVD that she had finally found at Holly, who caught it neatly. Both she and Sanderson heard her muttered curse as she left the room and they both winced at the language.

"Well that was a bit rude," Sanderson said, taken aback.

"Colourful," agreed Holly as she smiled at Gail's bite.

"My Mom would have her wash her mouth out with soap!" he declared and debated suggesting that to Gail when she returned. However he decided there were a couple of curse words she hadn't managed to slot into that last sentence and he didn't really want those directed at him too.

Sanderson looked sideways at Holly who was kneeling on the floor setting up the DVD player, noticing the half smile on her face. He decided to fish a little. "So, you and Peck have a lot in common," he offered casually.

Holly looked surprised at that statement and sat back on her heels, "Really?" she asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Ah you know. Just watching you together. You get on well, yeah?" he said.

Holly wasn't sure how to answer that. Was Scott trying to trip her up? She thought of Gail as a friend…ok if she was honest with herself, she thought of Gail as more than that, but she knew she couldn't go there. Did Scott think she and Gail were too close; that the professional line had been blurred? Holly didn't think that she had been obvious about her feelings at all – unless Scott had spotted something on that night out. Drunk Holly wasn't as subtle as normal Holly. She knew she had flirted heavily with Gail, but in private conversation, not in front of everyone.

She tried to deflect the question. "I guess I spend a lot of time with you guys. We've _all_ gotten to know each other well," emphasising the word all. It was true, sort of. The more she learned about Sanderson, the more she liked the easy going young cop. He could be a good friend too, just like Gail. Of course, he didn't need to know that she wished Gail could be more than a good friend.

"Yep. She's not the easiest to get to know though, is she?" Sanderson replied, allowing himself a smirk when Holly immediately bristled.

"I wouldn't say that. Gail's great! So she's a little more guarded than most,"

"And straight talking…" Sanderson mentioned.

"She's honest! That's a good thing!" Holly told him, frowning at what she saw as an attempt to discredit Gail.

Sanderson held his hands up in a gesture of apology, "Hey, I meant no offence. You're right, Gail is great. I hope we'll keep in touch and stay friends when I'm back in Vancouver," he said, trying to placate the woman that sat with him on the floor. Holly gave him a strange look and didn't reply, instead getting to her feet and moving back to the sofa. She began to fast forward through the trailers at the start of film, drumming the nails on her free hand against the arm of the couch.

"You like her more than a friend though, right?" he asked softly in much the same way he had asked Gail last week. He didn't need confirmation from Holly; he had listened to a couple of the early phone conversations she had shared with her Mom. He had heard her pour her heart out over her feelings for Gail but how she couldn't act on it with someone she was working with, and that the cop was straight anyway. McGregor had eavesdropped on a couple of those phone calls too and had called Sanderson in to talk about it. People could say what they liked about McGregor, but one of his good points was that he trusted his team to do their job. So even when on shift, he relied on his staff to listen in on Holly's calls which meant that he had missed much of what Holly had told her mother…Sanderson wasn't going to share it.

The boss was worried that Holly's feelings for Gail would make the job complicated and wanted Sanderson's opinion about whether they should pull Gail from the team. Sanderson had persuaded him that Gail was completely oblivious about it all and that Holly wasn't going to pursue anything. He had told McGregor that he was sure Holly would get over it soon enough, then when the sergeant had asked him to keep an eye on things, Sanderson's update was always that he hadn't seen or heard anything more on it.

The entire team – even McGregor - had pretty much stopped listening to most of Holly's phone calls within a week or so anyway; certainly those with her parents or best friends. It had become clear that Holly wasn't sharing any details of the case or her protection unit with anyone, nor was she cooking up any plans to get away from the team. They all felt uncomfortable listening to her personal business, not to mention a little guilty, so the only calls they monitored were the very few from unknown numbers. Therefore Sanderson hadn't lied when he said he had heard nothing more about Holly's crush on Gail, but he suspected some of the long calls to her mother may have contained a few more details. Whether he had seen anything was another matter; he was a cop after all and a good one. He hadn't missed the way Holly would look at Gail sometimes, or the way she would smile at the blonde. But as far as he was concerned, it wasn't a problem. He liked working with Gail, nothing had happened to interfere with the job they were doing and it was good that someone on the team had made a connection with Holly, it made things easier. However, when he had started to notice that maybe Gail felt the same way, he had thought long and hard whether he should tell McGregor, yet he had elected not to. He didn't want to cause trouble for his friend at the end of the day, and he knew she was professional enough not to let anything cloud her judgement. He worried about them though; this dance they were doing around each other must be stressful for them both.

Whilst he was waiting for Holly's reply, he watched the emotions play across her face. Her hand stilled on the arm of the couch as the first reaction of shock hit. He saw her swallow and bite her lip as the shock turned to panic, then he watched her resolve set in as her shoulders stiffened. He noticed the exact moment she decided to lie to him; her eyes slid away from his and looked down to the left and she shifted in her seat.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Scott," she said, with a fake puzzled air.

Sanderson allowed himself a small chuckle at the fact Holly's answer was very similar to the one Gail had given him over a week ago. Gail was the better actress though. He stretched his shoulders out and continued to watch the woman who was sat in the corner of the sofa. "You know, it's difficult for people to lie to the cops. We're trained up to spot it. And you? You're not a good liar Holly Stewart," he stated.

Holly shook her head and didn't say anything else, but he could see the worry and turmoil brewing under the surface.

"It's ok," he told her gently and that was all it took.

"Does she know? You won't tell her, will you?" Holly asked desperately.

He pondered that for a moment; he didn't know whether Gail realised how Holly felt. He suspected she was too busy worrying about her own feelings to read the signs properly. But he could answer the second question, "I won't tell anyone, no. I'm not asking because of that; I'm asking because I'm worried about you. About both of you,"

"I don't want to cause trouble for Gail. I know it's awkward, but it's me not her," she told him, and he felt terrible for bringing it up when he saw the sadness written across her face. He had just wanted to know how Holly felt, because he suspected this was something that both women were going to have to deal with, rather than burying their heads in the sand like they had been. It was true; he did worry about the two of them. He loved working with Gail, even if she spent most of their shifts insulting him, they got on great. She was straightforward, entertaining and smart. And as he'd gotten to know Holly, he found he really liked her too – she was friendly and laid back and made a mean chilli con carne. In normal circumstances, he thought they would actually fit well together, if Gail could stop panicking and listen to her heart. But with the situation they were in, it wouldn't be right for them to get involved.

Sanderson shuffled across the floor and knelt in front of Holly, laying a hand on her knee. He gave it a quick squeeze and smiled understandingly at her. "It's ok," he said again. "I get it. For what it's worth, I think you'd be great together. But just not right now,"

Holly furrowed her brow, not getting what he was trying to tell her so he continued the explanation. "She's working and things could get messy. The brass would actually call it unethical if you two got involved. She could lose her badge,"

"I know," Holly sighed. "I know nothing can happen, even if we both wanted it to. It's a professional relationship, and we can't help becoming friends, but what it comes down to is that you guys are here because it's your job. And Gail is straight anyway, I know that. So it's stupid, and I promise I'll get over it,"

Sanderson shrugged. "Like I say, I think you'd be good together. In different circumstances, that's all. Who knows what will happen when all this is over?" he offered. He was pretty sure Gail wasn't as straight as Holly assumed and he also suspected that she was interested in Holly, so he didn't want to kill off any idea of a relationship. Equally he didn't want to encourage it either, because it would make their job harder. Once the Kolarov trial came up and all the Stewarts were safe and well, he would root for these guys if they did decide to see if there was anything there. But until then, the job at hand came first.

Holly stared at the fair haired officer sat at her feet, unsure of what he was trying to tell her. Was he saying that there was hope for her and Gail? Did he know something – maybe he and Gail had talked? Or was it just his own speculation? She couldn't see Gail unloading her thoughts onto anyone…and she'd only known Sanderson for three weeks. However, before she could question him the front door banged open making them both jump. Sanderson was straight up on his feet and stepping in front of Holly but they both relaxed when they heard Gail call out.

"Thanks, Scott," Holly said, settling for just making sure he knew that she appreciated his concern and didn't think he was meddling. They headed through to the kitchen to collect their pizza, before sitting down to watch the film…and Sanderson again marvelled at the Nerd Fest between the two women as they debated what technology they would put in their own armoured suits. Although they had to interrupt the movie a few times so Gail and Sanderson could do their checks, all three of them enjoyed the chance to wind down a little. They had settled into an easy routine over the past three weeks and they had become friends, but that didn't mean the pressure of being on the alert all the time wasn't hard.

Later that night, after Holly had gone to bed, Sanderson came back from a perimeter check to find Gail picking at the leftover pizza.

"You're a bottomless pit, Peck," he said, marvelling at how much Gail could eat, and he received a death stare in return.

"I'm heading out to the van, Sanderson, and for that, I'm taking this with me," she told him.

He grinned, not really caring whether the leftovers walked or not. But he did have something he needed to get off his chest. He tried a similar opener to the one which had worked with Holly. "So are you and the doc both fully paid up members of the Nerd club, or do you just guest star occasionally?"

"We are beings of higher intelligence, not nerds," Gail responded, with a roll of her eyes. "Or at least, I'm not," she amended her statement, thinking of all the times she herself had called Holly a nerd.

"You're just a nerd fan?" he clarified.

"What are you on about now, Sanderson?" Gail asked, bewildered. She had a feeling he was going somewhere with this, but couldn't work out what.

Sanderson sighed and decided to try a different tactic. He'd tried to ask her last week after he had witnessed the two of them fighting, but Gail had been riled up of course, and he'd gotten a mouthful for his trouble. But they'd just had a really chilled evening, so now was as good a time as any to try and get through to her.

"I'm a cop, Gail. I notice things and I'm not an idiot. I see how you two are together. There's something going on isn't there?" he challenged her deliberately, knowing that nothing had happened but hoping her reaction might give him something else.

Sure enough, Gail took the bait. "What? Of course not!" she hissed, mindful that Holly was upstairs and she needed to keep her voice down.

Sanderson walked over and leant his forearms on the kitchen island next to where Gail was standing. He bent over level with her, in a bid to seem less like he was trying to pick a fight, but he carried on pushing. "What am I supposed to think? You've both clearly got the hots for each other, and you've spent all night flirting away on your own planet. Look, I don't care, but if you're sleeping with the subject then as your partner, I need to know,"

"You're nuts," Gail told him, wide eyed. "I'm not an idiot either! Do you think I'd be that stupid?" Sanderson shrugged and kept silent. Of course he didn't, but he wanted to get Gail talking.

Sure enough as the silence grew and Sanderson continued to watch her, Gail felt the need to defend herself further. "Nothing is happening Sanderson," she said. "I'm professional and I am more than capable of controlling myself,"

That sentence gave him the in that he was looking for. "But you'd like something to happen?" he asked calmly.

Gail flapped for an answer as she realised she had dropped herself in it; "No, but…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say. She didn't want to flat out lie to Sanderson; he was her partner and he had turned out to be a good one. She remembered him asking on the night she and Holly had argued – clearly he had worked out that she was interested in Holly anyway. As she wondered what to tell him, Sanderson tried to press his advantage.

"You like her, don't you?" he probed.

Gail sighed and gave up. "Yes," she admitted, and she steeled herself for his reaction. However, Sanderson's demeanour didn't change in the slightest and he remained stood by her side, cool and collected. She chanced a look up at his face and he quirked an eyebrow at her but stayed quiet.

"Say something!" she demanded when the silence stretched between them. It had taken a lot for her to confess that, and now he was standing there like she had simply commented on the weather or something.

The taller officer laughed at her annoyance. "What do you want me to say?" he asked with a shrug.

"I don't know," Gail huffed, and she slapped the pizza box shut before turning her body to face him. "Anything! Tell me I'm an idiot and I'm going to get fired. Tell me she's out of my league. Hell, tell me I'm not gay, that's an interesting conversation that's been going on in my head lately, why not join in?"

Sanderson wrapped a long arm round her shoulders and pulled her into his side for half a hug. Gail rolled her eyes and withstood it for a moment before wriggling away. "That's not really how I communicate," she told him.

"I know. But I thought you might need it," he said and she grunted at him whilst he continued talking; "Look. First off, you can be gay or straight or a monk for all I care, whatever stirs your coffee. It doesn't matter, you know that. And as for her being out of your league, well you're both awesome. So shut up, yeah?"

Gail couldn't help but smile at him. "Shut up yourself," she muttered. It surprised her, but admitting to Sanderson that she liked Holly felt like a weight had lifted from her shoulders. Saying it out loud was terrifying but it also felt good to have someone in on the secret. Thoughts of Holly had been driving her up the wall and she was tired of struggling with talking herself out of her own feelings. Another opinion would be like a breath of fresh air.

"As for getting fired, McGregor doesn't know anything," Sanderson said, "So as long as you stay cool, you'll be fine,"

She sighed. "I'm not going to act on it; I know nothing can happen,"

"You wouldn't be the first cop to fall for a subject in this sort of situation and you probably won't be the last. But it makes things messy, Gail, it really does. You can't lose sight of what we're here for, or let it cloud your judgement," said Sanderson, earnestly.

"I'm not going to do that," she replied, shaking her head. Trying to fight her attraction to Holly had been difficult, Gail would freely admit that. But she could also honestly say it wasn't affecting how she did her job. If anything, she thought it was making her more focussed; protecting Holly had become much more than her job, it had become the most important responsibility she had ever taken on.

"Just be careful, that's all," Sanderson cautioned.

"I am! And I'm keeping a lid on it. I just thought…" Gail tailed off, embarrassed.

"Thought what?" he asked, not willing to let her off the hook.

"I thought it would go away. We clicked, and I never click with people. It was weird so I thought it was just a stupid crush on a friend, and it would stop," she confessed.

Sanderson pulled a face at her logic. "I'm guessing not?"

Gail covered her face in her hands and shook her head, "Nope. She keeps being all funny and amazing and making it worse,"

"Man, you've got it bad Peck," Sanderson said, observing his partner. He hadn't realised how into Holly she actually was. He also wondered if Gail herself realised.

"It's fine. I'm dealing with it, I promise you," she told him, rubbing her temples before dropping her hands and looking at him once more.

"Ok. As long as you're ok, yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah," Gail answered, without much conviction.

Sanderson spotted her despondency. "You've just got to hold it back for a few more weeks. Then once this is over, maybe you can see what develops," he said, almost repeating what he'd told Holly earlier.

"It would still be messy," Gail argued. "It would go from unprofessional to creepy!"

"Holly wouldn't think you're creepy," he laughed at the idea.

"Maybe it's best if I just tell her now, then walk away. You could get someone else in, there's only three weeks left," she mused.

Sanderson shook his head "You need to be here," he said, wanting to stick by his partner.

Gail appreciated the support; another partner wouldn't have been so understanding. She thought even some of her friends from the division probably would have flipped out. "I can't believe I got myself into this mess. I just can't help it, you know?" she said ruefully.

"Hey. Being interested in Holly isn't a bad thing. But it's just really, really bad timing!" Sanderson offered, not sure whether that would make her feel better or worse.

"Timing has never been my strong point," said Gail, "I'm really not good with relationships. I'd screw it up either way."

"You're predicting a failure before you've even started anything. That's sad," Sanderson told her.

Gail frowned and trying to explain what she meant, "It's true though. I've fucked up all my relationships and this is…different. It's confusing,"

"Because she's a woman?" Sanderson clarified.

"Yeah…no. I don't know. I mean, that's a pretty big detail I guess. She's all sexy librarian and who knew that was my thing? But I'm more worried about the fact she's under my care than the fact she's a woman. And that worries me! It's weird not to be freaked out about the girl thing, isn't it?" Gail realised she was rambling, and stopped herself.

"I don't know. I don't think so," Sanderson pondered.

"This would be a lot easier if I had just met her at a crime scene or something," she sighed.

"Like I say, you're not the first person I've seen this happen to and you probably won't be the last. It gets pretty intense, spending all this time with someone,"

"Who else do you know?" Gail demanded.

"Jake!" he smiled.

"You're bullshitting me. What happened?" she asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Not really my story to tell, but he was on a witness protection detail and got a little too friendly with the witness,"

"Oh God. I'm surprised he still works for your unit! Didn't he get disciplined?" Gail asked, though actually she didn't really care if that happened to her.

"He got taken off that case…" Sanderson said with a shrug, before he broke into a giant grin, "But he married her two years later!"

"You're definitely bullshitting me," Gail insisted with a shake of her head.

"Ask him yourself," he retorted.

Gail thought about it, but didn't want Jake wondering why she was interested. She would have to believe her partner. "Well that's a special case Sanderson; let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I still don't know how to get through the next three weeks without making an idiot of myself,"

"You'll be fine, Peck!" he said cheerily. "Now that I know, I'll help take your mind of it,"

She dreaded to think what Sanderson's distraction tactics would be. But now that he mentioned it, there was one thing that had been on her mind and she would need Sanderson's agreement to put her plan into action. "I'm good, thanks. But I have an idea that I do need your help with,"

Sanderson listened as Gail outlined what she wanted to do. He was pleased with his intervention with both women tonight. He felt like he had a better handle on the situation, and he hoped he'd given them both some peace of mind whilst still making it clear that they needed to put a hold on things. McGregor wouldn't like Gail's plan that was for sure. But it would make Holly happy, and he couldn't really see it causing a problem if the boss didn't find out. It was a little risky…but only if Holly was under observation from the mobsters 24/7 and he really didn't think that was the case.

"Ok, let's do it," he agreed. "But I'm going to say it one more time – be careful, yeah?"

 **A/N: He's a good guy, Officer Sanderson. But is it a good idea to agree with one of Gail's crazy plans? We'll see!**

 **Thank you to everyone who has sent me a review, or a pm. I've had a few interesting ideas about where this is heading thrown at me, and it certainly keeps me on my toes answering your questions. Special, massive, huge thanks to the person who reviewed, then replied to my pm and somehow ended up very generously volunteering to beta read for me. Certainly more than they bargained for, but their help and suggestions have vastly improved the quality of my work and I really appreciate it.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello folks. Tuning in for Gail's plan? Excellent. Opinion on Sanderson seems to be a little divided, which is intriguing. Which side are you on?**

 **I've had a seriously productive week, maybe because I spent a lot of time on the train. I've done a shed load of writing...none of it links together of course, but it's all down on paper, so that bit can come later. I am also spending the weekend with the police (no, I haven't been arrested!) which means an opportunity for a bit of research. So all is gravy in my writing world. Happy days!**

 **Anyhoo. I'll get on with it. Time to crank things up a notch.**

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"Holly. Holly! Come on Nerd, wake up,"

Holly's eyes opened a crack as she tried to process the hushed whispers that had roused her from sleep. The figure looming over her bed startled her, her body tensing before she realised it was only Gail. She rolled over and lifted her phone from the nightstand to check the time – five thirty two A.M.

"Gail, what the hell? It's the middle of the night!" she groaned.

"It's only an hour before you usually get up!" Gail pointed out indignantly.

"Not when I'm not at work it isn't," the doctor mumbled.

Gail rolled her eyes and stood from her crouched position. "Well if you don't fancy going for a run, then ok, you go back to sleep…" She smirked when Holly's head snapped up off the pillow to stare at her.

"Seriously?" she asked. "You're seriously going to let me go running?"

Gail quirked an eyebrow and gestured down at her own body, hands waving at the running gear she was dressed in.

"But you guys said it wasn't safe!" Holly said, confused about why the rules had suddenly changed.

"Routine isn't safe, remember Doc? It's not that running isn't safe, just that it's what you do three times a week. Six thirty A.M., Monday, Wednesday, Friday. So we're shaking it up. Five thirty start on a Sunday, different route, different everything. Are you coming?" Gail asked.

"Does McGregor know about this?" was the suspicious response.

Of course he didn't. Gail had squared it with Sanderson last night, and they had spent their shift planning it. A very early start was key, as was Gail going out with Holly and sticking close. Sanderson had been out around the neighbourhood this morning already, checking for any signs of trouble and he was satisfied they were in the clear. He was going to stay back at the house but would be ready by the phone. She shrugged at Holly; "What McGregor doesn't know won't hurt us. Get dressed and meet me downstairs in ten," Gail told her. Holly grinned widely, and shot out of bed, squeezing Gail's wrist in excitement as she bolted past.

Gail watched her fly towards her closet, and laughed at the mess Holly made as she tossed clothes aside in search of her workout stuff. She only realised she was staring when the brunette grabbed the hem of her t-shirt and began to peel it off over her head to get changed. The expanse of olive skin that was suddenly on show made Gail catch her breath, and she scooted out the bedroom with a shake of her head. These feelings were getting ridiculous. _Pull yourself together Peck_ , she berated herself; _Holly will notice if you perv on her like that!_ Gail stomped down the stairs and began a quick stretching routine in the kitchen, trying to focus her mind away from how the muscles in Holly's back moved as she lifted her arms over her head…

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Thirty minutes later, Gail's inner torture had only intensified. They had avoided the park where Holly usually ran laps, and were heading out in the opposite direction down a long tree lined street. The doctor's exuberance at being able to run again meant she was setting a fast pace. She was running several steps in front of Gail, and all the blonde had seen for the past five minutes was Holly's long, long legs striding out confidently, the short leggings she wore hugging her thighs in all the right places and leading up to…

"Argh!" Gail groaned, as she found herself watching the way Holly's ass moved as she ran yet again. She was supposed to be alert for any potential threats, but knew she had been hopelessly distracted for at least half of this run.

Holly turned at the sound, and slowed slightly to allow Gail to catch up and run alongside. "Sorry!" she said, smiling despite her elevated breathing. "Am I going too fast? I got carried away being out again," she told her companion.

"Its fine," Gail murmured. Even though she wasn't as keen a runner as Holly and therefore had to work a little bit harder than the other woman, she knew she was fit enough to keep up. She had to be a reasonable athlete to keep her job, after all. But if Holly was going to offer a plausible explanation for why she was flushed and sweaty, then the cop was going to seize it.

"We should turn round and start heading back at the next block anyway," Holly said, checking her watch. The women did just that, moving onto a slightly quieter street to lead them back to the house. Having Holly alongside her now meant that Gail's attention was back on their surroundings, and she automatically scanned the path ahead, noticing a van pulling out of a side street in front of them and bumping the brunette with her shoulder to divert her path slightly and cut behind it. They ran in silence, now at a leisurely pace and enjoyed the feeling of being out in the pale early morning sunlight. Holly turned to smile at Gail, and the cop grinned back, loving the fact she had managed to make the doctor happy just by taking her out for a run.

Within ten minutes they were only a couple of blocks from Holly's place and Gail began scanning the streets in earnest. The last thing she needed was McGregor or Chen to turn up early for the morning handover, and their finding out about this little unauthorised outing. She saw the van moving slowly towards them, and strangely enough it was the swipe of wipers across the windshield that drew her attention first - it wasn't raining, so why was the driver clearing his view? It was only then she realised that she had seen the vehicle before. It was the same one that had pulled out of a nearby side street five minutes before; dark blue with a round dent in the panelled side door. Gail felt a cold finger of fear slide down her spine as she realised the van must have circled the block to be coming back towards them now. Time froze as she saw the vehicle slow down, pull over and the side door start to slide open.

Gail reacted. She slammed the brakes on, her sneakers skidding on the pavement. She quickly threw an arm out and grabbed Holly's wrist, yanking her to a stop too. "Gail!" the doctor yelped, not noticing what the cop had seen. The van had come to a standstill twenty five yards down the street; far too close for the blonde's liking. Two men jumped out the door, and immediately scanned the sidewalk, looking slightly surprised when they saw how far away the two women were. Clearly they were expecting to be right alongside them, but Gail's instincts had bought them some time. She shoved Holly backwards. "Run!" Gail shouted at the confused brunette.

"What?" Holly asked, and Gail shoved her again. "Run! Get the fuck out of here, Holly!" The two men started towards them, and Holly finally saw the danger. Gail dropped to one knee and pulled her service weapon out from where it was holstered around her ankle. She stood and faced the oncoming thugs, and breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Holly's footsteps moving away from behind her. One less thing to worry about.

"Police!" Gail yelled at her two adversaries. "Stop right where you are, now!" She got into a solid firing stance and pointed her gun straight at them.

The men paused slightly, and glanced at each other. Then one of them looked past Gail to where Holly was backing away, albeit much too slowly for Gail's liking. He began to advance again.

"Stop and put your hands on your head!" Gail shouted, praying they would listen. They didn't.

"I won't tell you again, I will shoot if you do not stop moving. Do you understand me?" she yelled again, standing her ground. Gail could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and fought to keep her voice steady.

One even had a small grin as he approached so that he was only ten yards away. "You won't shoot me, Blondie," he said confidently. "Get out the way."

She swallowed hard, and centred the gun on him. She depressed the safety trigger of her Glock slightly, so that any further pressure would fire the gun. All her training stated you didn't warn someone more than twice, but the men looked like they were unarmed. Could she really shoot them down in the street? She wasn't even in uniform. "Don't move," she said clearly, mentally taking his description down; dark hair, cropped beard, leather jacket. He was taller than his shaven headed companion, and looked like he could handle himself. The man took another stride forward, and was already stretching his hand out as if to knock Gail's gun aside.

Gail shifted her weapon quickly, aiming well above the man's head and pulled the trigger, firing a warning shot high into the air above him. The thunderous sound of the gunshot made all three of them flinch, and she moved her weapon back to point at the guy's chest. She watched his dark eyes and saw them narrow. They both paused for three long seconds, staring into each others' eyes.

Gail was so focused on the man in front of her; she nearly missed the twitch from the bald guy. The movement registered in the corner of her eye as the shorter man rocked forward ever so slightly, coming up on the balls of his feet. Gail read it correctly, swinging her gun towards him as he launched himself towards her. She pulled the trigger again, just as the guy's forearm came crashing down on her wrist.

The pain shot through her arm and up into her shoulder, causing her to lose her grip on the weapon and she saw it drop and skitter into the gutter, straight under a parked car. Then the guy's weight slammed into her, knocking her backwards off her feet. Gail hit the sidewalk with a thump, but quickly shuffled herself backwards expecting the thug to grab hold of her. However, he struck the floor without moving and she realised she must have hit him somewhere when she fired.

The bearded guy stepped over his stricken pal, and as Gail scrambled to her feet he launched a backhanded slap that caught her cheekbone with enough force to rock her back on her heels. She gasped at the pain, but kept her body in the middle of the sidewalk, conscious that she probably couldn't stop this goon, but she could buy Holly some time to get away. Gail was banking on a local resident hearing the gunshots and calling the police, but she knew a squad car would take time to respond. He came at her again, a cocky grin on his face. He swung another fist, but this time Gail was ready and she slid to one side letting the punch fly over her shoulder. She grabbed his outstretched arm and wrenched it backwards and downwards, just as she'd been shown all those years ago in the Academy.

Beardy dropped to one knee, howling at the pain in his arm and trying to pull away, but Gail hung on grimly. She almost felt like she had control of the situation…until she heard the clunk of a van door behind her, and two seconds later felt strong arms wrap around her from behind and pull her backwards. Shit. She'd forgotten about the van driver.

Gail was forced to let go of Beardy's arm and instead tried to pry the arms from around her waist and shoulders, but the guy was too strong. Beardy rose to his feet and stepped in close to her, grabbing her chin with one giant hand. "Bitch. I will fucking kill you for that," he snarled. "Throw her in the van quickly, we need to go grab Stewart," he directed the driver. As he let go of her face however, Gail snapped her head forward and caught him flush on the bridge of his nose with a violent head butt. She had a split second of satisfaction when she heard the crack of breaking bones and saw the guy drop like a stone, but the flash of pain in her own forehead and the realisation the driver still had a hold of her from behind was a quick reminder that she wasn't out of the woods yet. She struggled wildly, but the guy didn't budge. Instead he moved his arms upwards to clamp around her throat, choking her. Gail desperately tried to stamp on him or bring a leg up to his groin, but he avoided her blows and only squeezed harder.

Her vision swam slightly, and Gail knew she had lost. But at that split second when she stopped fighting, she heard an almighty crash, felt something rain down on her head and shoulders and then the arms around her neck dropped away. She turned to see Holly standing there with a look of complete panic on her face as she held up the remnants of the terracotta flower pot she had just smashed down on the driver's head. _Where the hell had Holly come from_? Gail wondered momentarily, before turning her attention back to their current situation. The driver was flat out on the ground, groaning in pain alongside the completely prone Baldy, but Beardy looked like he was attempting to get up.

Gail didn't stop to assess any more damage. "Run!" she yelled, yanking Holly's t-shirt as she began to stumble away from the guys on the floor, "We've got to get out of here!" Gail half dragged Holly along with her until the brunette's legs started to work on their own. "Come on!" she hissed as they sprinted up the street. Gail chanced a glance back at the gangsters on the pavement and saw Beardy rise and start to move in their direction. She shoved Holly into a left turn when they reached the end of the block, wanting to put a corner between themselves and the thugs.

As they ran, she fumbled her phone out of her pocket and hit the speed dial for Sanderson. Thankfully he answered quickly and Gail screamed at him, not even bothering to put the phone to her ear, instead just switching it to speaker, "They're here Scott, and they're fucking chasing us! I shot one of them!" She couldn't hear Sanderson's reply but kept the phone in her hand, hoping he would still be able to hear what was going on and knowing she could shout to him if she needed to. She trusted him to keep listening and to come and find them. "Go left out of Holly's place," she yelled at the phone, not able to tell him exactly where they were but knowing that would set him in the right direction. They skidded round another turn into a small alleyway, and ran straight through to the next street.

"Where the hell are we Holly?" Gail asked, looking desperately around her. She knew they were still heading in the general direction of Holly's place, but was sure she had never been down this particular road before.

Holly didn't answer. Gail took one look at the shock that was written all over the brunette's face and knew she wasn't going to get a reply. She took a chance and led them both left once more in the hope of heading roughly towards Holly's street. There was still no sign of any of the guys from the van chasing them, but Gail knew that at least one of them was on the move. It could only have been less than a minute since they started running but the speed at which they were sprinting meant both of them were gasping for breath already. Gail could feel her heart pounding, and wasn't sure if it was fear or the exertion. Her jaw was also throbbing from the blow she had received, and her forehead felt like it was split open.

All of a sudden she could hear the slapping of footsteps against concrete. She looked back along the straight road they had found themselves on, and saw Beardy barrelling out of the alleyway a hundred yards behind them. She increased her pace, hoping that Holly had the legs and frame of mind to keep up, and headed for the junction at the end of the street. "Help! Police!" she yelled, hoping someone would be up at this time and call in the commotion in what was usually a quiet residential area. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Holly look back and even through the other woman's heavy breathing she heard her gasp when she saw their pursuer. Gail attempted to tell her to focus and keep moving, but couldn't find the air in her lungs. She knew that they couldn't keep this pace up much longer.

It seemed Holly didn't need any encouragement though; the sight of the man had been enough to spur her on her, as she hit the next corner a yard ahead of Gail, turning right and then pushing her pace even faster. Gail could only follow, and was then completely surprised when the brunette vaulted a small fence bordering the front yard of one of the properties. Gail nearly ran straight past, but managed to turn in time and follow Holly, albeit less gracefully as she caught her shin painfully on top of the wooden slats. Holly sprinted across the yard and up along the side of the house, keeping close to a manicured hedge row that marked the border of the property. The two women slowed down as they shimmied through the narrow passage and into the back yard. Holly pressed her back against the brickwork at the rear of the house and slid down to the floor, eyes closed and chest heaving. Gail copied her, praying the goon hadn't seen them enter this lot. She knew he would soon work out that the women weren't still running up ahead when he couldn't see or hear them, and would start checking the yards. They needed to be out of there before that happened. _How the hell did I manage to drop my weapon,_ Gail asked herself. W _hat a fuck up!_

Gail knocked her phone off speaker in case they were in earshot of the bad guys, and gasped into it, "Sanderson!"

Scott's voice came back to her loud and clear. "Peck! What's happening, where are you?"

Gail fought against the spasms of her lungs, forgoing sucking in more air in favour of talking "Hiding out in a back yard. At least one thug chasing us. Can't see him right now," she told him, speaking as loudly as she dared and was actually physically capable of.

"You need to tell me exactly where Gail, and I'll come get you," Sanderson said, the panic evident in his voice.

"I don't fucking know, Scott!" she hissed. "It's a yard with a swing set and kids' toys, the fence is brown and the lawn is green! How the hell am I supposed to know the address?"

"Ok, ok. I've called it in anyway, unknown gunshot, residential area. Your people will be swarming round here in minutes, but you've got to stay hidden," Sanderson told her.

Gail rolled her eyes. That instruction wasn't worth stopping breathing again to respond to. _Stay hidden - what sort of half assed advice was that?_ She was hardly going to advertise their presence to the maniacs chasing them. As they sat there gulping in air, they heard a vehicle moving slowly up the street out front. Gail thought it could have been a van; seemed like at least one of the other men they had flattened was back up and moving. She felt a tug on her arm, and looked down at Holly's wild brown eyes that were full of fear.

"These houses back onto my street," Holly whispered, barely audible over the sound of her breathing which was just starting to come back under some sort of control. "That's why I came in here,"

Gail nodded in relief. There was a way out of here for them. She briefly wondered how the hell Holly had realised that fact and acted upon it, even when she was so terrified. This woman amazed her. Even when being chased by a crazy mobster, she was still smart and resourceful. Holly's bravery astounded Gail; she herself hadn't come up with any bright ideas apart from "Run!" despite all those years of training and experience of dealing with dangerous situations.

"So which one's yours?" Gail asked, gesturing at the row of roofs she could see behind the yard they were currently sheltering in.

"Three or four houses that way," Holly answered, pointing to their right.

"Sanderson, look out for us," Gail spoke into her phone again. "We're going to try and get into the back yard".

"Ten-four, Peck," came the response.

Gail put the phone back in her pocket, and staggered to her feet. She held out her hand to Holly and pulled the other woman up. "Ever go yard hopping as a kid, Nerd?" she asked, flashing a grin to try and hide the lingering fear of being caught by their pursuers. Holly shook her head, looking bewildered. Gail knew that she was on the verge of freaking out and they had to get somewhere safe soon. The decision was made for them when an upstairs light in the house they were sheltering behind snapped on. Seemed like the occupants were getting up. "Come on," Gail said, and moved toward the wall at the rear of the yard.

A few scaled walls and fences later, a minute or two that felt like hours and the women started to hear the wail of sirens converging on the area. Gail could have cried with relief. She boosted Holly up one last wall and grabbed the doctor's outstretched hand to haul herself up too. They tumbled over the top of the wall and found themselves in Holly's back yard. Scott Sanderson was waiting, weapon drawn and as soon as Holly landed on her feet, he hustled her towards the house. "Come on Doc, let's get you inside," he said.

As she followed slowly behind them, Gail caught Sanderson's eye as he let Holly cross the threshold of her back door. "Chen's already here, McGregor and McNally are on the way. Debrief in ten. The local cops are securing the area, but you need to call the details into dispatch so they can look for the right people," he told the blonde, with a serious frown.

Gail nodded. Holy shit, she was going to be in a world of trouble. But Holly was safe, that was the main thing. She felt herself tremble as she realised how close she had come to losing her. She grabbed the door frame to steady her legs. Sanderson noticed the wobble and gripped her shoulder momentarily. "Hey, Peck. Don't drop out on me now. You got her back here; you did your job. McGregor will be ok, he can't point the finger at you," he said, trying to reassure his colleague.

Gail nodded again. She appreciated Sanderson's efforts to reassure her, but how could she tell him that it wasn't her job that she feared for? She knew she had fucked up today; putting Holly at risk by taking her for the run, shooting the guy, losing her weapon and generally being the worst protection officer that had ever existed. Her professional competence was about to be questioned and usually she would hate that anyway. But all that paled into insignificance with the realisation that Holly could have been hurt or killed in the last half hour, and it would have been all her fault. She watched as Sanderson propelled Holly up the stairs, and as the doctor turned the corner, Gail saw the tears streak down her face. Gail stumbled up against the kitchen island and bent over to lean her head against her arms that were lying on the cool surface. She felt physically sick.

Suddenly the front door of Holly's house slammed open. Gail jumped away from the counter and nearly lost her balance on still trembling legs. She felt sure that her heart was going to give out on her this morning. McGregor stormed through the open door. "What the hell happened, Peck?" he yelled.

 _Oh shit_ , Gail thought to herself. _I'm about to get fired._


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hey all. Sorry for the delay, but if it's any consolation, I think this chapter may be the one a fair few of you have been waiting for. Although they do say number 13 is unlucky for some. :o)**

 **Thank you to everyone who sent me feedback and questions about the last chapter. I'm glad you liked the action scene...there's a couple more to come later on, so that bodes well. Special shout out to Trusty9721 who I think may have a crystal bal! Gail's judgement really was pretty poor, but let's see if the consequences as a dire as she thinks they might be.**

 **Particular thanks to Kravn, who beta read this chapter (and the last two also!) and in short did an absolutely cracking job. Her help and ideas made this so much better, and I am really grateful.**

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An hour later, Gail knocked gently on Holly's bedroom door.

"Not again McGregor, not now," came a voice from inside. Gail grinned slightly; it seemed Holly was currently holding McGregor in some disdain, and given the dressing down Gail had just endured, this only made her like the doctor more.

"It's me," she said softly. She heard footsteps approach quickly, and the door opened.

"Sorry. I just can't deal with anymore of him today. Come in," Holly said, closing her bedroom door behind Gail after the officer stepped inside. Holly wore sweats and a tank top. She had clearly just got out of the shower; her hair was damp and she had a towel around her shoulders.

"Well you dealt with him earlier. You didn't have to do that for me," Gail stated, staring fixatedly at the floor. When McGregor had arrived earlier, she had fully expected to be removed from this operation, and probably disciplined for her negligence in taking Holly out this morning. But she hadn't had a chance to admit to her mistakes; when Holly had heard McGregor yelling she had come back downstairs and asked to talk to him. The doctor had basically told him it was all her doing; she'd said that she had told Gail and Sanderson that she was going running and that was that. They would have to come with her, or restrain her. Both cops had been bemused when McGregor had come back to the kitchen and started yelling at them for not "arresting the bloody stubborn woman" as soon as she started acting up, but they'd played along and got away with it. McGregor had still been fuming but his reprimand was definitely tempered by Holly's white lies. He hadn't said anything about sacking either one of them anyway…not yet at least.

Holly shrugged, and grinned a little. "Yeah, I did. I didn't want you getting in trouble for trying to give me a little fun,"

Gail opened her mouth to fire a retort, but thought better of it and shut it with a snap. She swallowed hard and pulled a face. She was going to say that she could think of better ways of showing Holly some fun, before remembering how wildly inappropriate it was to flirt with this woman, for so many reasons. Realising that she was doing a passable impression of a goldfish whilst Holly stood looking at her, she simply nodded, acknowledging that Holly had pulled her out the fire.

"I'm sorry though," she explained. "I thought it would be ok. Guess I got complacent. I'm sorry I put you in danger," Gail's apology was heartfelt, but she couldn't bring herself to meet Holly's gaze. Seeing Holly was alive and well with her own two eyes gave her some comfort, yet the guilt was still eating away at her. She fidgeted and scuffed her toe into the carpet, staring at the mark she made in the fibres.

The doctor reached out and rubbed Gail's arm as she moved past her. "It wasn't your fault," she said candidly. "Anyway. Are you ok?" she asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Hey, I'm the protection detail. Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Gail shot back, resorting to her usual snark when asked about her wellbeing.

"Gail." Holly didn't smile.

"I'm fine, Holly. How are you?" Gail asked, still more concerned about the brunette but knowing that Holly wouldn't let her get away without answering. Sure enough, Holly just stared her out. Gail sighed and tried to give an answer without referring to the turmoil of guilt and relief that was churning in her stomach. "Ok, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I haven't ran like that in a while, and my legs are so full of lactic acid I think they may give out,"

Holly glared at her, knowing that was a flippant answer if ever she heard one, but she decided to go with it. "Yeah, me too!" she replied. "I'm exhausted. And I ache all over."

"And how do you, you know, feel?" Gail persisted, gesturing randomly with her hands around her head trying to vaguely indicate she was talking about emotions, not physical wellbeing.

Amazingly, Holly understood. "I don't know how I feel," she answered, choosing to address Gail's avoidance by being completely honest herself. "How am I supposed to feel about being attacked in the street and having to run for my life?"

"I don't know," Gail replied, giving the question some thought. She had seen how Holly reacted earlier that morning. Holly had been amazing really; smashing the guy over the head, finding them somewhere to hide. But she had also seen the terror the brunette had felt; those moments where she had frozen in panic and shook with fear. Now that the adrenaline had died down, Gail's overriding feeling was one of relief. Sheer relief that they had come out of the situation safely and that Holly hadn't been hurt because of her stupidity.

"You were great today," she blurted out, unable to hold in her admiration any longer.

Holly laughed softly and shook her head. She definitely didn't feel great. "God, Gail. I felt completely terrified. It was like I was watching myself, and I wanted to scream and curl up in a ball at the same time. It's taken me this long to stop shaking, and now I'm thinking about it again, my chest is getting tight and I'm trembling and I can't help think that if you weren't there, if you didn't stop them then…" Holly's rambling was cut off as her breath hitched, and Gail watched as her face crumbled. Holly wrapped her arms around herself and began to cry.

Immediately, Gail moved to sit next to her on the bed, and folded her arms around Holly, pulling her against her side. Holly buried her face into Gail's shoulder and sobbed, all the adrenaline and fear from earlier rushing out of her in one big, emotional meltdown. Gail rocked her back and forth, whispering soothing words and shushing her, as she felt her own heart break a little. She had done this to Holly; it had been her stupid idea to take her out for that run. She had gotten too comfortable, forgetting the very real threat against Holly in her desire to impress the doctor. All because of these crazy feelings that she just couldn't shake off, that constant desire to make Holly happy in every small and simple way she could think of, just so she could be the recipient of that amazing smile. Gail Peck, dizzy in the course of duty. Now that was something she'd never thought she would describe herself as. She sighed, disgusted with how she had behaved.

As she comforted the other woman, she rubbed her hand up and down Holly's bare arm and despite her turmoil couldn't help notice she had been right that night at the bar. Holly had spectacular upper arms; her muscles were defined and her skin was incredibly soft. Oh hell. Even when the woman was having a breakdown, Gail was ogling her _. Get a grip, Peck,_ she told herself.

Eventually, Holly quietened and lifted her head. She disentangled herself from the blonde and wiped her eyes with some tissues from her dresser. As she turned back to face Gail, she found the police officer was standing up once more, and was now watching her, an unreadable expression on her face. Little did she realise Gail was trying to get the feel of Holly's skin out of her mind and desperately trying not to look at her arms.

Failing to interpret the look Gail was giving her, Holly simply returned the frank stare. "Thank you," she said, her voice reflecting the emotion she felt behind those simple words. She hoped the cop would know that she wasn't talking about the hug they had just shared, but for everything today.

"Anytime," Gail replied, casually.

"I didn't mean for just now, I meant…"

"Yeah, anytime," Gail interrupted, not allowing Holly to voice her gratefulness. She didn't need to hear it. She didn't deserve praise for today.

Holly frowned, and stared at the woman who was now lightly running her fingers across the spines of the books lined up on the shelf above her bed. She knew that she had just essentially had an emotional breakdown all over her friend, but wasn't sure why said friend was being so aloof. It was almost like she was avoiding her. She watched as Gail smiled slightly at one of the book titles, and that was when she noticed the injury for the first time. "You're bleeding," she said, stupidly.

Gail lifted her hand to her cheekbone, where a smear of dried blood streaked across her pale skin. "Yeah. Sanderson said he'll clean me up, but I wanted to check on you first,"

"Sit back down," Holly said, indicating the bed. "I'll do it,"

"Its fine…"the cop started, but the brunette interrupted.

"Sit down, Officer Peck. I'm a doctor, remember?"

Gail did as she was told, and watched Holly walk to the en-suite and emerge with a well stocked first aid kit. She sat next to the blonde, sorted out some antiseptic wipes and used her hand to gently tip the other woman's face towards the light and begin cleaning the cut.

As she sucked in a breath at the first sting of antiseptic against her cheek, Gail idly examined the contents of Holly's first aid kit. It certainly wasn't your run of the mill, shop bought kit; there were steri-strips, some heavy duty looking tablets, equipment for surgical sutures and even a sterile syringe. The doctor must have put it together herself and Gail couldn't help ribbing her for being so conscientious.

"Have you seriously pimped up your first aid kit?" she queried, poking at the syringe packaging.

"Don't touch that!" Holly scolded, slapping at the other woman's hand.

"You are such a nerd!" Gail cackled, and Holly pulled a face at her.

"Will you just be quiet and sit still? You'll be glad of those extras if this wound turns out to be life threatening," she warned.

Holly moved closer to look at the damage. "Is this where he hit you?" she asked and she shuddered slightly, flashing back to the moment she saw the guy's fist connect with Gail's face and feeling the same blinding horror course through her again.

"Yeah," Gail said quietly. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of Holly's gentle fingers on her face. She tried to keep her breathing slow, but couldn't help imagine that this was exactly how Holly would touch her in different circumstances. Stroking her cheek as a tender gesture, or softly cupping her face before leaning in for a kiss…

"It's ok, not deep. I think he may have had a ring on or something that just caught the skin," Holly's voice interrupted Gail's daydream.

"It stings a bit," the cop admitted, pulling her mind away from her wandering imagination.

"I'll close it with a Steri-strip,"

"No stitches then, Doc? Nothing to mar my good looks?"

Holly grinned, deftly applying the small dressings to Gail's face. "You should be fine, soldier. Unless there's any other gaping wounds I need to know about?"

"Now that you mention it, my leg is killing me. I think one of those fences bit me," Gail said, reaching down to roll up the leg of her jogging pants. She had noticed how Holly had reverted to her usually cool and collected self whilst she dealt with the cut; it seemed being able to do something practical was this woman's way of calming down and taking back control. Gail figured it couldn't hurt to have her play doctor for a little while longer.

"Ouch," she said, as she saw the ugly scrape stretching up her own shin.

"Nice," said Holly, kneeling before Gail and admiring the scratched and torn skin. "You should have hurdled a bit higher. Didn't do much track at high school, I guess?"

"We can't all be leaping gazelles, Holly," the blonde grumbled. "Some of us are rhinos. If I didn't have to be careful about leaving a trail, I'd have just run straight through the fence like I usually do,"

Holly laughed as she set about cleaning Gail's leg. "I thought you were a cat?"

"Shut up, Doc, and just concentrate on saving my leg from amputation,"

"I'll do my best, but it's going to be touch and go,"

"Yeah, I guess you're out of practice on actual live human beings. And how did you escape without a scratch anyway?" she asked.

"Already dealt with mine," Holly replied, lifting her arm to show Gail the dressing on her forearm. "Ripped it against the wall. And I think I strained a muscle lifting that planter," she frowned, flexing her shoulder a little.

"Maybe you should hit the gym more often?" Gail mused, before wincing at the sharp sting of anti-septic against her shin. She glared down at Holly.

"Sorry," the doctor smiled sweetly up from her perch on the floor, before turning her attention back to Gail's leg.

The police officer prudently decided to keep her wise cracks to herself whilst Holly tended to her injuries. She leant back on the bedspread, holding her weight on her forearms and palms and rotating her neck back and forth to ease the ache in her back muscles. Gail closed her eyes, and let herself enjoy the feel of Holly's hand gently gripping her calf. She idly wished she would run her hand up higher, before again having to shy away from the fantasy. Perhaps having Holly play doctor wasn't such a good idea after all.

"All done," Holly said, shaking Gail out of her musings. "Anything else?" she asked, as she stood and self-consciously smoothed the fabric of her sweat pants down over her thighs. She was trying to stay in doctor mode, but being so close to Gail was affecting her. She actually felt hot under the collar, which was utterly ridiculous. Never one to brag of course, but Holly had seen her fair share of women in all stages of undress and she had paid glorious close attention to a lot of naked skin. Yet the smallest flash of Gail's bare leg and the feel of that pale, soft skin under her fingertips had sent Holly's temperature and heart rate sky rocketing.

Gail sat upright and internally assessed the condition of her body – apart from generally feeling like she'd gone ten rounds with Nash at fight night, she had come out mostly unscathed. Except for the fractured skull of course.

"Just my forehead. It's throbbing like crazy,"

"Ah, well if you go around violently head butting criminals," Holly said lightly, stepping towards Gail and placing her palm briefly on her good cheek. She used the palm to nudge the cop into looking up at her and examined her head carefully, pressing a thumb along the blonde's brow.

"I'm violent? You decked a guy with a plant pot!" Gail accused.

"Yeah, well he deserved it. And I couldn't find a baseball bat at such short notice," Holly deadpanned, as she continued her examination of Gail's bruised forehead.

Gail laughed, "Where did you find that thing anyway?" she asked.

"On the driveway of one of the houses on that street. They had one on both sides of their entryway. It's not going to match now, I guess. I should go round and apologise," Holly said frowning at the thought of ruining some poor local's flower arrangements.

Gail snorted, not caring much about garden design and wishing they'd had time to crash both pots over the guy's head. She kind of loved the fact that Holly was concerned about it though and the words slipped out before she could stop them, "For such a big nerd, I think you're quite possibly the coolest chick I've ever met," she murmured.

Their eyes met and Holly's fingers stilled their exploration. "Oh really?" she asked, with a small smirk.

Gail didn't know how to answer that, and shrugged slightly, dropping her gaze.

Holly let go of Gail's face, feeling the compliment warm her heart. She'd never expected such a bold statement from the cop, and felt ridiculously pleased with herself. She knew she hadn't been imagining the way Gail had started opening up to her, and even the mild flirting. This was a definite escalation though – an actual declaration of liking. A rush of confidence coursed through her and she too couldn't stop herself from voicing the idea that had flitted across her mind when she first started checking out Gail's bruise; "It's fine. It'll be black and blue in the morning, but apart from the good old fashioned ice pack, there's only one cure for this," she stated, her voice wavering a little.

Gail watched open mouthed as the doctor bent over and leant in close, her long dark hair falling like a curtain around both of them. Gail could feel the slightly damp ends tickle her neck, and she held her breath in wonderment. Holly dropped a soft and tender kiss right on the centre of Gail's forehead, pressing the lips gently against the damaged skin there. She ran her hand down Gail's cheek once more, her fingertips trembling slightly as they left the officer's jaw.

Holly stood up straight, not breaking eye contact with the blonde and smiled at her, before turning away and stepping into the en-suite to return the first aid kit. As she walked back into the room, a small smile was still evident on her face.

Gail simply stared at her, a host of emotions tumbling round her mind. She could feel the spot where Holly's lips had touched burning, as if it were a brand on her skin. Already she was replaying that split second in her mind, noticing something new every time; the smell of Holly's shampoo, the softness of her hand, the sparkle in her eyes. She felt a rush of air leave her lungs and realised that she had been holding her breath for the last few seconds. For a moment she had thought Holly was going to kiss her on the lips, and the fact she hadn't sent equal feelings of relief and disappointment swirling through her. She had felt the brief kiss on the forehead like a stampede of tap dancers in her stomach; if Holly had kissed her properly, she imagined it would have been like having a Broadway Musical performed in there.

Holly sat down next to the blonde, looking expectantly at her.

"Thanks," Gail said, wanting to break the spell but unsure how.

"Anytime," Holly replied, echoing Gail's words from a moment ago. "And thank you for saving my life," she said in a low voice, determined that Gail should hear that, even if she didn't want to.

Gail ducked her head, embarrassed. That definitely broke the spell. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid earlier. "It's my job. But hey, likewise. I was a goner until you showed up with that planter,"

"I got to the corner, but I heard the shot and thought they were shooting at you. I stopped running; I was so scared, Gail. When I looked back I saw that guy hit you and I had to come back," Holly explained.

"You're crazy," Gail stated, with a shake of the head. "If I tell you to get out of there, you need to get out of there Holly. Don't look back, for Christ's sake!"

Holly shrugged. "I'm not going to let someone hit you,"

Gail couldn't believe this woman. She ran back into a fight, with no thought for her own safety when she was supposed to be under protection. What if they hadn't been able to overpower the guys? Both of them would have been chucked in the back of that van and anything could have happened. What Holly had done…it was just so reckless.

"Seriously. My job is to look after you. I can't do that if you're throwing yourself into trouble," she insisted, running her hand through her hair in agitation. She could feel her temper building and realised with a start that she was mad at Holly. Mad that she'd put herself in danger and risked her skin. Gail had gone from having butterflies in her stomach to full blown anger in less than five minutes flat. _What was this woman doing to her,_ she wondered? She had never met anyone who provoked such strong emotions in her before.

"You can't protect me if you're out cold on the street because some whack job has choked you," Holly retorted.

"Jeez, Holly. What if something had happened to you just because you came back for me?" Gail asked, the frustration evident in her voice. "You could have been killed!"

Holly shrugged. "I thought you had been shot," she said quietly.

"It doesn't matter! If I get shot and you get away, then I've done my job and to hell with what happens next!"

Both women fell silent at Gail's outburst. The police officer screwed her eyes together and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. When she opened her eyes, she saw Holly looking directly at her, her mouth slightly open in shock and an anguished look on her face. "Don't ever say things like that…" Holly began, but Gail interrupted.

"I never would have forgiven myself if something had happened to you today. It would have been all my fault," Gail's wallowing was side tracked by Holly's sudden expansive gesture.

The brunette threw her hands up in exasperation. "Don't you get it?"

 _No_ , Gail thought. _I don't get it._ All she knew was that Holly had put herself in danger, and Gail couldn't deal with the panic that came along with that. She began to try and explain herself, but Holly's agitation led the brunette to talk straight over her.

"I care about you, you idiot! I care about you a lot, and losing you would devastate me. I haven't even had the chance to get close to you yet, and already the thought of not having you in my life terrifies me. If you got killed or hurt trying to protect me, I would never forgive myself either," she spat out, stumbling over the words in her attempt to show Gail how sincere she really was.

"I don't…" Gail began.

"When that guy hurt you today Gail, I wasn't even thinking straight, I just needed to get to you and help. My heart stopped beating. I care about you. So much, and you don't even see it," Holly rushed the words out, gripping at Gail's sleeve and staring into her eyes, imploring her to understand.

Gail felt her breath catch in her throat. The world around her closed in as she focused on the woman in front of her and tried desperately to quell the thrill that flipped her heart. Surely Holly couldn't be saying what she thought she was? That she felt the same way that Gail did, felt all the things that Gail had been fighting against these past weeks? No. She must be reading the situation wrong yet again. Holly wasn't interested in the beat cop who had been making her life miserable lately. The doc had said that she cared about her, but she can't have meant romantically. _She must mean as a friend,_ she rationalized. Gail knew what it was like to want something so badly that you turned every little nuance into that want. It was easily done. She felt a hot wave of embarrassment, ashamed that for a split second she actually thought Holly felt the same way for her. Taking a quick breath, Gail thought it best to lighten the mood and opted for some good old fashioned self-flagellation.

"Hol, it's ok. We've become friends these past weeks, I know. But you don't know me properly yet. I'm a nightmare friend, really, I'm rude and I'm impatient and just…yikes. When you know me, you'll be glad to get rid of me -" Gail suddenly found her rambled speech cut off by Holly's lips pressed firmly against her own. If her mouth hadn't been otherwise occupied, she would have yelped in surprise, but instead she concentrated on the far cooler reaction of kissing this stunning woman back.

The softness of those lips against her own made Gail tremble, and when Holly's hands moved upwards to cup her face and her fingers played with the fine hair at the back of her neck, Gail's mind almost fogged over completely. She felt Holly's tongue brush lightly at the underside of her top lip and the swirl of excitement that followed settled deep in the pit of her stomach. When the brunette eventually pulled away, Gail actually felt disappointed at her absence. She leant back and met the gaze of the woman sitting next to her. Holly smiled gently at her, noting the stunned look written across her face.

"You just had to stop talking. You had to stop putting yourself down and deliberating about us being friends, and you had to understand what I'm trying to tell you. I like you Gail. I like you a lot. I've been thinking about kissing you for weeks. So please stop looking so gobsmacked!" Holly said.

Gail almost giggled at the tone of exasperation in her voice, but caught herself. She didn't think laughing was the most fitting response to a first kiss. "You surprised me," she said, softly.

"A good surprise, right?" the pathologist asked, and Gail had never heard her sound so uncertain before. Holly didn't meet her eyes and she noticed how she was biting her lip slightly. She rushed to reassure her.

"Yes! Definitely good. Really good,"

"That's good," Holly replied, resting her hand lightly over the top of the cop's hand, which was settled in her lap. Gail turned her palm over, squeezing Holly's hand as they grinned at each other.

"We need to stop saying the word good," Gail stated seriously.

"Agreed," was Holly's immediate response, playing with Gail's fingers. "We could use the word amazing?" she suggested.

"Hmm. I don't know. Let me check," Gail said, leaning back in towards Holly to take her lips once more. They were millimetres away when a loud banging on the bedroom door interrupted them. The two women sprang apart, with Gail nearly falling over in her haste to stand up and move away from the bed.

"Come in," Holly called out nervously, flipping her hair over her shoulder and smoothing the bed spread down.

Allan McGregor shoved the door open and stuck his head round the corner. He looked from one woman to the other with his customary scowl, and Gail prayed he couldn't read how flustered she was. "Just spoke to Detective Stone and he's made the call. We're moving out to a safe house. We leave in an hour; pack a bag please Dr. Stewart. Peck, you're on shift until we've done the transfer." With that pronouncement, McGregor turned and pulled the door shut behind him.

Holly swung round to stare at Gail, "A safe house? Where? What does he mean?"

Gail felt as though a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her. Seeing McGregor had brought her back to the reality of her situation. She furiously berated herself; w _hat are you doing, you idiot?_ They had just been attacked, she had lost her gun, her colleagues were downstairs and she was at work yet she had been kissing the woman she was supposed to be protecting. If McGregor had barged in instead of knocking, he would have caught them. She marvelled at her own stupidity. Time to get back to being Officer Peck, professional and cool headed, not Gail the girl who couldn't get the sensation of Holly's soft and gentle lips pressed up against her own, out of her mind.

"I can't tell you. But you'd better get packing, he means it when he says an hour," she declared. She moved toward the door, but Holly stood and blocked her way slightly.

"Gail…" she started to say, reaching out to touch her arm.

Gail side stepped round her, avoiding meeting the dark brown eyes that were searching her face. "I'll see you later, Holly. Get ready," she said, before leaving the room and missing Holly's crestfallen gaze entirely.


	14. Chapter 14

It was early afternoon by the time Gail was allowed off the clock. She and Sanderson had stayed after their shift to help transport Holly to their new location; a PD owned safe house several miles away from Holly's home. Gail had to give her statement about the encounter with their attackers, and sign her weapon over for testing as it had been fired in the line of duty. She had been pleased when the local cops told her they had retrieved it from the street where the incident happened, but the good news ended there when she realised she couldn't have it back immediately. Not to mention the three different incident forms she had to complete and the full report she was asked to write detailing why she had fired her service weapon.

By the time the squad cars had arrived at the scene, there was no sign of the three men or their van. The blood on the sidewalk and the remains of the smashed planter confirmed Gail's story was accurate and indicated she had indeed hit one of the men when she fired, therefore teams were currently checking the local hospitals for any patients admitted with gunshot wounds. Given the sickening crack she had heard when she head butted the other gangster, Gail suggested they also look for broken noses and threw in head wounds too to cover the thug that Holly had knocked out cold. That was a lot of canvassing and records to trawl through, much to the local cops' delight - in other words, nobody was expecting results any time soon.

After liaising with the police, the team then spent a long time getting familiar with their new place; it was a large townhouse in the suburbs which, from the exterior at least, blended in with all the others. However it had several important modifications; the main one being that the sensors and camera system were permanently integrated into the house as opposed to the temporary set up installed by the technical support officer at Holly's. This allowed for everything to be hard wired into the small surveillance room on the ground floor. It also meant no more van duty for whoever drew the short straw each evening. There were panic buttons installed throughout the house; and the attic and basement were reinforced rooms designed to be barricaded if necessary. The other advantage of the safe house was that it had a couple of spare rooms which any member of the team could use. Gail had actually stayed at Holly's a couple of times when she had worked extra hours, but although the doctor had been a more than willing host, staying at this place was more appropriate. She felt like she was in a motel rather than intruding on someone else's space.

Gail eventually managed to grab an hour's break to collect some of her own stuff from home, then she and Sanderson both decided to crash at the safe house to grab a few hours' sleep before their night shift started at seven.

All this meant that apart from a half hour ride in the back of the blacked out sedan on loan to the team, she hadn't seen Holly all morning, not since she had pretty much sprinted from her room. McNally had informed Gail that Holly was a little bewildered about the whole situation and certainly not happy to leave her home. As it was the doctor's day off, she had been ensconced in her new room for most of the morning, unpacking the meagre amount of personal items she had managed to shove in a suitcase. McGregor had told her that he wanted her off work for the next couple of days, but Holly was due back tomorrow and was arguing the fact on that one. Gail thought that this might be the one time McGregor would win a battle of wills with Holly; given what had happened that morning, there was now no doubt that the threat against her was real.

Despite her exhaustion from being awake nearly twenty four hours, not to mention the physical strain of her confrontation with the thugs, Gail had tossed and turned in her bed all afternoon. She tried to tell herself that it was still the adrenaline from their narrow escape, but that wasn't what was filling her thoughts. In truth, she couldn't get what had happened in Holly's room out of her mind. Every time she closed her eyes she could feel Holly's soft lips on her own, and the sensation of her gentle fingers pushing into her hair as she cupped her cheek. And whenever she remembered all that, she berated herself for getting so caught up in the moment and letting her guard down. It was only yesterday when she had assured Sanderson that she wasn't going to let her feelings cloud her judgement and do something silly. Yet not fifteen hours later she was falling into Holly's arms and kissing her like she was the oxygen that she needed to breathe. She felt guilty for letting her partner down…and for taking advantage of the pathologist.

She was well aware that Holly had said she liked her; really and truly liked her. But perhaps neither of them would have allowed that to happen if they hadn't just experienced the terror of being hunted down on the street. Besides Gail was the professional one here, she should have been able to detach herself from the situation and not allow an emotional reaction to creep in. It was natural for Holly to let the fear and adrenaline manifest itself into the joy of simply being alive and trying to make the most of that. But Gail should have known better and should have stopped it.

An hour before her new shift started, Gail gave up and rolled out of bed. Her legs immediately gave way beneath her, and a screeching pain shot through her calves. "Fuck!" she exclaimed, sitting back on the bed. Her legs were as stiff as boards. She rubbed the muscles, trying to get the feeling back. Clearly lying down for a few hours had allowed the lactic acid from yesterday to build up. _This is what people meant when they said they felt like they had run for their lives_ Gail thought, _basically like their legs would never work again_. Finally she was able to limp around the room to pull on some clean clothes. She sat down on the edge of the bed to yank her boots on but as she did so she was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Who's that?" she called out.

"It's me," was the softer reply and she recognised Holly's voice immediately, freezing in the midst of her task. She wasn't ready. She didn't know what to say to Holly yet. "Can I come in?" Holly asked, her voice muffled by the wooden door.

"Yeah," Gail answered, before she could stop herself. There was no good excuse for not letting Holly in anyway.

The door lurched open and Holly appeared in the room, turning to shut the door behind her. "Hey," she said, shooting an uncertain smile at the still seated cop.

"Hi," squeaked Gail, before clearing her throat and trying the greeting again; "Hi."

Holly didn't miss the look of trepidation in Gail's eyes but she tried to quash the panic that it caused. She sat down on the side of the bed, half turned towards the other woman but not close enough to invade her personal space.

"So. This is happening," she said, her words neither a question nor a statement.

Gail watched her out the corner of her eye, "What's happening?" she asked quickly, wondering if Holly was referring to the two of them.

"You're freaking out aren't you?" Holly replied with a wry smile, but Gail didn't feel like Holly was laughing at her. The expression was sympathetic and understanding, and it was that fact which made her answer honestly instead of denying it.

"Yes," she said and kept her eyes fixed on one of her boots which still lay on the floor.

Holly nodded and followed Gail's gaze, idly thinking how ridiculous she looked with one foot encased in a black biker boot and the other showing off a lurid orange sock with tiny little lion faces dotted all over it. She knew Gail had freaked out when she saw the blonde rushing out of her room. Initially she had been angry and upset about it. Without even saying anything, Gail had made her feel rejected. One second they had been sharing an intimate moment and the next the cop had shut down, her face blank and her eyes closed off. However, Holly had just had all day to think about it and instead of her anger growing, it dissolved. She remembered how she had felt the first time she had kissed a girl. The exhilaration and the fear all rolled together into a mass of confusion and turmoil…and her situation had been far less complicated that Gail's. As a shy sixteen year old, Holly had simply given into the longing that had built up over a number of months, leant in and kissed one of her best friends. She didn't have to worry about her job and life threatening situations; just whether she would be pushed away by her friend and run out of school. Fortunately she hadn't been. But she had embarked on an ill-advised, secretive and short lived relationship with her friend, one which ended up with the other girl running off with one of the boys from the basketball team. Anyway, Holly remembered the maelstrom of emotions she had felt that day, and had come to the realisation that's how Gail must be feeling too, even if she was ten years older and wiser than Holly had been. So she had made the conscious decision to cut the other woman some slack and see if she could help her make sense of things, rather than fighting with her about running away.

When she saw the nervous tension Gail was wrestling with, she knew she had made the correct decision. Gail needed a sounding board right now, not a judge. Whether Holly was the right sounding board was another matter, but there was hardly anyone else she could talk to about this at the moment.

"It's okay," she said. "I'd be more surprised if you weren't freaking out,"

Gail glanced over her shoulder. "Really?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

Holly smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. "I completely panicked the first time I kissed a girl," she told her.

"What makes you think it's my first time?" Gail asked with a touch of sass. "Was it that bad?" She couldn't help winding Holly up a little; the doctor was looking at her so earnestly but as usual had completely the wrong idea.

Sure enough, Holly was completely taken aback by that comment; "No! No, it wasn't bad! I just meant, you know, it's different for you…you've been with men. Sorry, I didn't mean to presume…"

Gail couldn't let her stumble on any longer "It's fine, Nerd. I know what you meant," she interrupted. "But I'm not freaking out because you're a woman,"

"You're not?" Holly asked in surprise.

"No. I don't care Holly. So I'll be the big gay distraction? Big deal. I hate people, remember? That includes men and women…but apparently you're not people,"

"I'm flattered, I think," Holly said with a blink. She wasn't sure that was supposed to be a compliment, but she thought that Gail was admitting that she liked her. Which had to be a good thing, right? Whether she was truly not concerned at all by the fact Holly was a woman remained to be seen; there was a reason all lesbians knew not to fall for straight women. Holly had been there and done it before, as well as seeing it a few times and it never ended well. Although if anyone was going to be so casual about changing teams, she would put money on it being Gail.

"I just mean that, yeah, it's been confusing. I can't get you out of my head and that's crazy. And the fact that you're a woman is just part of that crazy, but it is what it is. It doesn't matter that you're girl. I'm….nervous about this anyway," Gail tried to explain but shook her head, not sure if she was making sense. It was difficult to explain because honestly, she was still figuring out her own feelings. Every single one of her instincts was screaming at her to run yet she knew she couldn't. She was tied to Holly by her role as protection officer. And even if she wasn't, then the little voice in her head was fighting those instincts tooth and nail anyway. She didn't want to run from Holly. At the end of the day, no, she didn't know why she wasn't worried about falling for a woman. It should have shocked her. But deep down, it kind of felt right.

"I'm scared too," Holly said, noticing the hesitation from Gail and guessing that nervous wasn't the first word she was going to put into that sentence.

"I didn't say I was scared!" Gail scowled, automatically baulking at the thought. She had been brought up not to admit fear; it was weak. That was instilled in her early on, and although she had grown up a lot since her mother controlled every aspect of her life, she still had that reaction in front of others. Holly simply raised an eyebrow at her and kept quiet.

Gail waited too, but couldn't hold back her curiosity; which was another side effect of being a police officer. "Why are you scared?" she asked.

Holly sighed. "You're not going to like this," she told her, "but hear me out? I'm scared that this is all new to you and it's a big change. I know you said it doesn't matter that I'm a woman. But it might later on. And you might change your mind and decide it's not for you. I don't want to be an experiment, Gail," she finished, with a wince at how brutal that sounded.

To her credit, Gail didn't flip out at that although it hurt that Holly didn't seem to trust her. "That's not how I see you though, Holly, okay? I can't promise what will happen in the future. But I wouldn't play with you like that. You are not an experiment to me; if I wanted something like that then there would be a lot easier options than you,"

The brunette frowned, appreciating how sincere Gail sounded but not quite understanding what she meant. Easier options? Suddenly she remembered what Scott had spoken to her about a few nights ago – how the two of them had to stay away from each other because of the situation they were in. Gail was almost in a position of trust over her and Holly herself remembered saying when they first met that it would be tragic to hit on her protection detail. Gail must be worried about it too…

"So why are you freaking out?" she probed, trying to test out her theory and also interpret the conflict she saw written all over the blonde's face. She tentatively shifted around the corner of the bed so she was sat next to Gail. She wanted to reach out and touch her, but sensed that could make the blonde bolt again. She settled for bumping her shoulder against the cop's.

Gail did indeed stiffen when she felt Holly's proximity. She bent down and dragged on her other boot, giving herself time to think. "We can't do this, Holly," she said very quietly, forcing the other woman to strain to hear her.

"What do you mean?" Holly asked, consciously keeping her voice on the same level.

"We're supposed to have a professional relationship. I'm at work here…it would be wrong for me to take advantage of you," the blonde replied, struggling to put her words together.

Holly raised her eyebrows, shocked that she would think that. "You are not taking advantage of me, Gail, far from it," she said firmly. She watched as the other woman shook her head, realising Gail was overthinking this. "Are you attracted to me?" she asked outright and as her eyes burned into the cop, Gail was forced to meet her steady gaze. The look they shared spoke far more than either woman could articulate, and the warmth the police officer could see in Holly's eyes made it impossible for her to lie or dodge the question.

"Yes," she answered.

"I'm attracted to you too. But I'm hoping you realised that this morning!" she joked, attempting to lighten the mood and Gail smiled back at her.

"But this situation we're in; it would make things complicated,"

"I know," Holly agreed, "But do you not think it's complicated already?"

Gail pulled a face, "I think I was born complicated,"

"Look, I don't know about you, but I'm sick of fighting this. I don't want to pretend I'm not interested in you, and just be friends. You have been driving me nuts these past few weeks," Holly explained. "Don't you feel it?"

"I do. I've been trying to make it go away and it just gets stronger. But I have to be careful, I have to put it aside and do my job Holly, you know that," the blonde said, imploring Holly to understand.

"I do, and believe me I'm really grateful that you're here keeping me safe. Because I kind of want to keep on living! But we're not robots Gail, we can't help the way we feel,"

"I've been trying," the cop admitted ruefully, "This morning, I just lost my control. I was so relieved that you were okay and when you kissed me it felt so good...but we shouldn't have done that,"

"I can't forget it happened, so don't ask me to," Holly warned, hoping desperately that the other woman wasn't going to suggest that.

Gail stared into her eyes, and thought back to the excitement that she had felt this morning; the softness of Holly's lips against her own and how her blood had rushed through her veins making her feel so alert and alive.

"I don't want to forget it," she murmured. "I want it to happen again. But I know I shouldn't,"

Holly breathed a sigh of relief. At least they felt the same about that. And she knew exactly why Gail felt like that, she knew that the circumstances they were in affected things. She chose her words carefully, knowing this was her one chance to convince Gail.

"Okay. I understand, I really do. But all I'm saying is that do you really think we'd be better off pretending there is nothing between us? We're both already struggling with that. It's not working for us Gail, it's making us stressed and that can't be good for the situation either? Yeah our timing is terrible but we can't change it and I know I can't keep ignoring this,"

Gail took in a deep breath as Holly's words hit home. The brunette was right. She had been fighting this so hard and yet it had gotten under her skin and permeated her thoughts so deeply that it had been tearing her up. Now they had taken that step over the line, could she go back to pretending there was nothing between them? In all honesty, she had already been failing to keep a lid on her attraction to Holly, and the kiss they shared had done nothing but strengthen that attraction. She had replayed it hundreds of times already and now she knew what it felt like to kiss Holly, she couldn't even pretend she had a silly crush any more. This was real.

"So what do we do?" she asked.

Holly gave her a gentle smile. "I don't know. We've acknowledged it, that's a start I think. We both like each other. Let's accept that and see where it takes us?"

"I don't know where it will take us Holly, that's the thing. And the guys are going to think it's messy…..McGregor. McGregor might take me off this assignment," Gail told her fearfully. She didn't want to leave Holly. Not after what had happened. And although she knew that she liked the doctor, in a definite romantic way, she was well aware of her track record with relationships. She had the potential to really screw this up.

"Hey," Holly said, interrupting her doubt. "I'm not suggesting we embark on some kind of mad love affair! I can't even take you on a date right now, let alone start a relationship with you. And I really want to take you out," she grinned at the thought of it.

"You do?" Gail asked, with a quirk of her eyebrows.

"Yeah. But we're going to have to wait, which sucks by the way. But I think it might be worth the wait?"

"Yeah," Gail agreed. "So. We just wait?" she asked, unsure what Holly was suggesting.

"We wait. But we know we like each other. And we don't ignore it. And when all this is over with, let's give us a go? See what happens?" Holly proposed.

Gail wanted to agree there and there, but she had to say something first. "We have to remember that I have a job to do though? That's the priority. And when I'm on shift, if I ask you to do something as your protection detail, you listen and you do it, right? I can't change how I have to deal with things work wise. I'm still here to keep you safe, and you need to respect that and let me do it," she told her in a serious tone.

"Of course," Holly answered immediately. "I can promise you that,"

"Alright. So we're not dating. But we're saying that maybe, possibly, potentially we might be one day?"

"Yes. Because when all this is over, I'm going to ask you on a date and you're going to say yes,"

"Okay then. I think that's a plan," Gail decided, and she couldn't help the happy smile that spread across her face. She ducked her head shyly to try and hide it, but Holly lifted her hand and cupped Gail's cheek, turning her face towards her. She leant across and kissed her gently.

"Just so you know, if we're not ignoring it, then I still get to do that. We just won't put a label on it," Holly whispered, before connecting her lips with Gail's once more. This time their kiss was deep and slow, and the cop felt her stomach flip. She almost forgot to breathe as she swiped her tongue across Holly's top lip and felt the other woman open her mouth in response, sliding her own tongue forwards to stroke against Gail before darting back and then repeating the motion. Just as the blonde moaned, Holly broke the kiss but stayed close, her forehead touching Gail's.

"Is that okay?" she asked.

"More than okay **,** " Gail said, and she turned her body completely to the side, placed one arm around Holly and buried her fingers in her hair, pulling her lips back to her own. _Absolutely okay_ , she thought to herself.

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Later that evening, Gail could still feel the butterflies dancing through her stomach as she sat opposite Holly conducting another epic Scrabble battle. The doctor had insisted on bringing the game with her to the safe house and it had been Sanderson's idea to play. He was winning comfortably too; probably because neither woman was concentrating properly as they shot secretive glances and smiles at each other across the board.

Gail felt as though every muscle and nerve in her body was on high alert. She had a curious mix of joy, excitement, fear and awkwardness bubbling through her and the number of emotions was driving her crazy. It was almost like being a little drunk. She was glad she hadn't run and she was thrilled to bits that she and Holly had their talk earlier and everything was out in the open. Well, between the two of them at least, obviously not to the wider world. But that was all they could have right now and all she wanted. If she was honest with herself, it was all she could deal with too. However it was enough, as proved by this whirlwind inside her. It was making her a little giddy, but she liked it. She realised with a start that it was happiness. Had it really been that long that she didn't recognise feeling happy?

She caught Holly's eye once more, and could have sworn the other woman gave her a quick wink, but it was so fleeting that Gail wasn't sure whether it was simply a normal blink. She giggled at how silly she was being, but stopped abruptly when she realised Sanderson was staring at her.

"What's so funny, Peck?" he demanded, and she blushed. Actually blushed.

"Just found a rude word in my letters," she made up an excuse on the spot and this time when she met Holly's gaze, there was a definite deliberate wink. Holly's eyes twinkled with mirth and Gail could only shrug at her. It was her fault she had to invent a stupid lie anyway!

"So childish, Gail, so childish!" Sanderson chastised her, as he laid out his word on the board and grabbed some replacement letters.

Soon they reached the end of the game and both of them had to witness Sanderson's exuberant victory dance. Holly decided that was her cue to turn in for the night, and said goodnight to them both before traipsing upstairs.

"So….!" Sanderson drawled. "That was one hell of day,"

Gail couldn't find anything to say as she replayed the last eighteen hours in her mind. It had been an absolute rollercoaster; and Sanderson didn't know the half of it. She shook her head and twisted her fingers together, absentmindedly cracking her knuckles.

"Next time you get a bright idea for cheering the doc up, count me out?" Sanderson announced.

She winced, acknowledging that although he wouldn't say it in so many words, she had royally screwed up today and if the worst had happened, Sanderson would have gone down with her. He had every right to be upset. He wouldn't tell her that though, because he was her partner. He had her back.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Sanderson shrugged, "I'm yanking your chain. I agreed to the plan. I never thought anything like that could happen. And hey, I was the one that checked round the block this morning. I have no idea how I missed them watching her,"

"We got lucky, Sanderson," Gail said with a shudder as she thought of how close they'd come.

"Yeah. But you did good, Gail," he told her and he didn't miss how the blonde woman grunted as if she wanted to disagree. He took in her appearance; the two strips of medical tape holding together the cut on the point of her cheekbone, the bruised forehead and the tired circles under her eyes. He was an experienced officer and he knew that cops were trained to react in dangerous situations and get the job done. It was often only after the adrenaline wore off that they suffered the consequences.

"Are you okay though?" he asked in a serious tone.

"I'm fine," she said with her customary guardedness.

"And is the doc all good?" Sanderson asked, realising there was no point probing Gail more on that.

"Yeah, I think so. We had a good talk," she replied and she couldn't help smiling. If Holly was feeling anything like she was, then she was definitely okay despite the mayhem of this morning.

"Hmmm. I did think you were both a bit chirpy this evening, considering," Sanderson mused, and Gail fought to wipe the smile from her face. Sanderson was a sharp cookie and already knew how she felt about Holly. It would be too easy for him to put two and two together if she gave him even the smallest of clues.

She shrugged at him and waved her hand over the board that was still laid out on the battered dining table. "Another game?" she asked. "Stretch our minds, before we numb our brain cells staring at these screens for hours on end?" As the surveillance cameras at this house were a permanent set up, there was a small box room with several screens where they could monitor the feed and all the other equipment from. Rather than taking it in turns like they had with the van, the two of them had already decided to base themselves in there so whichever one of them watched the screens at least they'd have someone to talk to during the long, quiet night shift.

"Sure," Sanderson readily agreed. "Let's make it more interesting though?"

"How so?"

"Filth Scrabble! Only rude, inappropriate and offensive words can be used!"

Gail laughed. _That could be fun_. "And you say I'm the childish one?" she asked.

"What can I say? You inspire me!"

"Ok, let's do it. You set it up, I'm going to the bathroom. But don't give me any letters, I'll pick my own!" Gail told him. She remembered what she had done to Holly in their abandoned game weeks ago and she wasn't going to fall for that one.

Gail got up and hurried up the stairs. She didn't actually need to use the facilities, but going upstairs allowed her to address another need. She tapped lightly on the door of the master bedroom which was the one they had allocated to Holly. It was next door to the one she had used earlier, but far bigger and the furniture in there actually looked like it had been bought as a set, rather than put together from various seized possessions the Toronto Police Force had accumulated…which seemed to be the theme in the rest of the house.

There was a brief wait before she got an answer to her knock and Gail wondered if Holly was already asleep. She couldn't help feel disappointed but just as she turned away, the door opened and Holly smiled when she saw who it was standing there. "Sorry, I was in the middle of getting changed," she said and stepped aside to let Gail into the room, closing the door again behind her.

"I just wanted to say goodnight," Gail told her, suddenly nervous now she was here alone with Holly.

Holly looked at her quizzically, her hand still resting on the door handle. She was pretty sure they had said goodnight downstairs, but she was never going to pass up an opportunity to see Gail for a little longer.

"Ok. Goodnight, Gail," she said. She started to smile but only got halfway before biting her lip, not wanting Gail to think she was making fun of her.

It was the sight of Holly catching her own bottom lip between her teeth than set Gail off and made her execute her original plan without any more thought. She stepped into the other woman's space and firmly pressed her lips against the brunette's, soothing that bitten lip by gently sucking on it before brushing her tongue along it. One hand cupped Holly's face, tilting her head to get the perfect angle and the other found a resting spot on a curvaceous hip. She heard the other woman sigh happily as they pulled apart, and decided that noise alone had made it worth sneaking up here. Gail opened her eyes and saw that brilliant smile had widened so far it was in danger of blinding her. Gail trailed her fingers down Holly's jaw and neck and stopped on her shoulder. She stepped back slightly, but didn't drop that hand.

"What are you grinning at, Lunchbox?" she asked, ignoring the fact that her own smile was also plastered across her face.

"Nothing," Holly said, "I just like the way you say goodnight,"

"Yeah. It's one of my talents," Gail told her as she waited for her heart to slow down.

"It definitely is," the doctor agreed and she brushed her fingers against Gail's forearm, watching the way the tiny, fine hairs stood on end.

"Goodnight, Holly," Gail said, deciding she had better make her exit as Sanderson would be wondering what was taking so long. She placed her hand over Holly's on the handle and pulled the bedroom door open slowly. As she stepped round the other woman, she squeezed her hand and stroked her thumb across the knuckles before leaving the room.

"Night, Gail," the brunette whispered, conscious the door was now open. They smiled again at each other, eyes sparkling and full of warmth. Holly slowly closed the door, cutting off the contact but she couldn't stop smiling as she leant back against it. That was the first time Gail had kissed her. She had initiated the others; she had been the one to take the lead in order to prove something to Gail. But this time Gail had been the one to seek her out and make the move. Holly hadn't even realised she was worried, but now the cop had done that, it settled the last lingering doubt. Gail wanted this as much as she did. She couldn't help doing a little wriggle of excitement before continuing to get ready for bed, the wide smile a permanent fixture on her face. _How was she ever going to get to sleep after that?_

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When it happened, Gail was halfway through wiping the floor with Sanderson in their game of Scrabble insults. They had moved into the control room so they could keep an eye on the monitors whilst they played. A second benefit of this was that there was no dictionary in sight so when Sanderson tried to challenge one of Gail's words, there wasn't any concrete proof either way unlike when she had played at Holly's.

The interruption came in the form of a flashing red light on the computer monitor on the desk and a low buzzing noise emitting from the speakers. Sanderson immediately leapt up to check what was on screen but Gail was slower to react.

"What the heck does that noise mean?" she asked, craning her neck over his shoulder to try and look at the screen.

"One of the motion sensors has been triggered," he answered, clicking some buttons until a map of the security system showed.

"That's all we get? No alarm bells?" Gail said, feeling kind of cheated. She had expected some kind of cacophony of blaring bells, or foghorns maybe. Surely with all this technology at their fingertips they could have a bit more urgency installed into it?

"That is the alarm!" Sanderson told her, snapping her out of that thought and into the situation at hand, "What, you want some kind of screaming alarm to panic the whole household, and probably anyone within a block radius?"

She shrugged. _Kind of, yeah_. "Where?" she asked, instead of arguing that point.

"The sensor that runs parallel with the back fence," Sanderson replied, pointing to the schematic in front of him and the area in question. The house had a fairly big back yard which backed on to parkland. Sanderson switched views and they both scanned the feeds from the two cameras that covered that area of the property. "I can't see anything. No movement, or strange shapes, right?" he declared, glancing over to see if Gail had spotted anything.

"No, nothing," she agreed straining her eyes to get used to the eerie grey scale images flickering on the screen.

Sanderson took charge and un-holstered his gun. He also grabbed his phone from the table and dialled Gail's number, "Pick it up and keep the line open," he said, slipping an earpiece in so he could use the phone hands free. "It's better than radio - it won't crackle at the wrong time or something,"

Gail did as she was told and Sanderson nodded at her. "Right, I'm going to check it out. Stay here and watch my back on the screens. You can talk to me on here, but I won't answer unless I really have to. Don't want them hearing me before they see me,"

"I should come," Gail argued with a frown, not liking the idea of Sanderson going out there to face an unknown enemy with only tiny CCTV pictures for back up.

"No, remember the priority here. If something happens, don't come after me. Hit the panic button, get straight upstairs and blockade yourself in with the doc. Keep her safe," he instructed, his voice intently serious.

"It'll probably just be a branch or something," she suggested, not knowing whether she was trying to reassure him or herself.

"Yeah, although the sensors have a certain level of sensitivity to allow for trees blowing in the wind and the like. So let's go find out," Sanderson replied, slipping his phone into his top jacket pocket and giving her a grim nod before moving quickly from the room.

Gail watched his progress from the second he left the front door, immediately scooting round the side of the building towards the rear of the house, pressing his back tight against the wall in an attempt to remain invisible to any watchers. Sanderson reached the corner of the house and ducked down low to make himself a smaller target whilst he quickly poked his head round and gave the back of the house a fast once over. Gail could tell he had seen nothing by the fact he remained vigilant, standing stock still and trying to catch any sight or sound that would indicate there was someone out there.

She examined all the camera feeds around the garden, but it was no good. "Nothing on the screens, Sanderson," she whispered into the phone, trying to keep her voice down low but still audible for him.

Sanderson waited a few minutes and although Gail couldn't see the detail on screen she knew his eyes would be scanning the yard non-stop. Suddenly his voice came through the phone, startling her despite the fact it was so quiet she could barely hear. "Moving right, thirty secs," he murmured and she selected the camera feed that showed where he was now and the one that showed the right side of the lawn, bringing each one up on her screens.

She began to count to thirty in her head, but when she reached twenty five she whispered a final check for him; "Nothing. Go!" Gail watched Sanderson sprint out from the cover of the building, keeping low against the hedgerow. Near the end of the line he reached a thick, taller bush that he could duck behind and Gail lost sight of him as soon as he did. She flipped to the camera that showed the back end of the yard, hoping to spot him in the corner but the field of view wasn't large enough.

"Lost visual on you," she said urgently and was relieved to hear him breathe a quick okay down the line to her. She flicked through all of the cameras and there was still no sign of anything untoward on any of them.

"Still nothing," she told her partner.

"Agreed. I think it's a false alarm," Sanderson replied. "It doesn't feel like anyone is out here,"

They waited another few minutes before Sanderson broke the silence, "I'm going to check the back fence," He was talking in a slightly louder voice now which showed he was pretty sure he was alone in the yard.

Gail gave him the go ahead and waited to see him appear on her second screen which showed the length of the back fence that the disturbed sensor covered. However, the tall officer never materialised and she frowned. It seemed there was a blind spot between two cameras in the far corner of the yard, and that was a sloppy set up to say the least.

"Son of a -!" she suddenly heard Sanderson yelp in her ear and she felt blind panic hit her.

"What? Sanderson!" she called down the phone, forgetting the earlier need to keep quiet. "Sanderson, what's going on?" she asked again, jumping out the chair and sprinting out the room to go find him. She skidded to a stop as she turned out of the door though, remembering she was supposed to go and protect Holly. As she stood there frozen with indecision, Sanderson's voice came through her earpiece and she bent forward to put her hands on her knees in relief.

"Hey, Gail? Sorry, I jumped and lost my earpiece!" he said, at a normal conversational volume.

"You're a dick!" she growled at him for giving her a scare. "Is it all clear?"

"Oh yeah, sure. All clear. Come on out here," Sanderson replied.

"Why do I need to come out if it's all clear?" Gail asked, breathing deep to clear the adrenaline. Honestly, she couldn't deal with any more excitement today. One way or another, this job was going to kill her if she carried on like this.

"You've got to see this," he chuckled and she rolled her eyes and made her way out back. Despite Sanderson's assurance that everything was fine, she couldn't help moving cautiously and scanning every inch of the back yard as she made her way to the rear boundary. She soon spotted Sanderson in the corner that had been out of view from the cameras; he was leaning against the fence looking along the gap behind the hedgerow. Gail made her way over to him, frowning as he lifted his finger to his lips to shush her.

"What?" she hissed, elbowing him.

"Want to see what set the sensor off?" he asked. "Just keep watching there," and he pointed down behind the hedge to the narrow gap between the trunks of the leafy bushes and the back fence.

Gail stood there for a couple of minutes, bent over at the waist to get a good look over Sanderson's shoulder as he crouched down at the end of the row. The position was uncomfortable and she soon got impatient, tapping her partner on the shoulder. Before she could say anything though, he breathed a word of caution, "Wait."

Just then, she saw the problem. As they silently watched, a long nose poked through a small gap in the fencing, followed by bright eyes and a tawny face. The fox slipped its body through the fence and made its way along the tunnel space.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Gail exclaimed and the sound of her voice sent the animal scurrying back to the safety of the gap.

Sanderson laughed at her disgust, "Yep! Looks like we got spooked by our feral friend there!" He stood up and turned to face Gail, shaking his head.

"What kind of idiot sets up a sensor along a freaking fox run?" she asked, thoroughly exasperated.

"Niall came and checked this place out before he went back to Vancouver, said it was all fine. He's one of McGregor's boys, and McGregor wanted it set up properly just in case we needed it," Sanderson shrugged.

"Should have called the SPCA, not the tech guys," Gail griped and he snorted. They stood there contemplating the gap in the fencing and how one small animal had sent them into high alert. Gail shook her head in annoyance. "So what do we do, just block the hole up?" she asked.

Sanderson thought about that. "Nah," he eventually said. "Seems a shame to cut off his stomping ground. This place has been empty for a while, it's probably part of his routine now. Aren't foxes really territorial?"

"I haven't a fucking clue," she replied. As fascinating as the nocturnal behaviour of foxes was, it was cold out and Gail had had a really busy day. And even though it was kind of cute that Sanderson was worried about the happiness of the local wildlife, it was also very weird and creepy.

"Well. Let's just turn this sensor off. I can bring one of the temporary ones over from Holly's place, and set it up across here instead," he suggested, walking out a line in front of the shrubbery and gesturing at the ground.

"You can do that?" Gail asked, surprised.

"Sure," he said. "You really should have listened in the tech briefing you know,"

"No need, when there are plenty of geeks like you around to look after that bit,"

"Yeah, because your strength is really the people side of things," he bit back, and she couldn't decide whether he was simply being sarcastic at her general social awkwardness, or poking fun at the pickle she had got herself into over Holly.

"Anyway," Sanderson continued. "It'll work. I think if I angle it right, I can cover that corner too because with this set up now there's a bit of a gap," he pointed at the corner of the yard.

"There's a blind spot on the cameras there too," she told him. "Seriously, what the fuck was that Liam guy doing when he checked the place out?"

"Who's Liam?" he asked, puzzled.

"That gormless tech officer who came to Holly's place! You just said McGregor sent him here too!"

"Niall," he corrected her

"What?"

"His name is Niall, not Liam,"

"Whatever. He looks like a Liam. And he's a moron," she stated.

Sanderson laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Come on. Let's get inside. I reckon we'll be safe from the local wildlife for tonight, then I'll get the new set up sorted out in the morning,"

"You do that, King of Geeks," Gail said, and led the way inside. Only another seven hours of her shift left before she could draw a line under this crazy day. Violent gangsters and stealth foxes could be forgotten about. Holly and kissing on the other hand, now that was part of the day that she intended to keep in the memory banks a lot longer.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN/ Hey all. Thanks for the lovely reviews you sent me on the last couple of chapters. Glad you like the action; there's more to come soon...just not as soon as some of you think! :) Thanks again also to Kravn for beta-ing, and having an almost superhuman insight into the mind of Gail Peck, which is really no easy feat.**

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After all the excitement of the tripped sensors in the middle of the night, the rest of Gail and Sanderson's shift passed by without incident. The adrenaline fuelled mayhem of the previous day had finally caught up with Gail by the early hours of the morning, so she really could have done without a seven a.m. team debrief meeting. Luckily McNally and Chen had bought good coffee on their way in; Gail was even grateful enough to smile her thanks at Andy.

McGregor opened with news of the guys who had attacked Holly and Gail yesterday. Apparently a man matching the general description Gail had given her police colleagues had been admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital in the middle of the night, with a wound in his side. The patient had clammed up completely and told the staff he could speak no English when it came to explaining how he got the injury, but the doctors identified it as a certain gunshot wound. Having checked the CCTV, the guy had been dropped at the front entrance by a blue panelled van. McGregor wanted Gail to go down there this morning and make a formal ID so they could interview the man specifically about Holly, and who had employed him for the attack.

Gail felt relieved when she heard the injury wasn't life threatening; a couple of cracked ribs and a slash to the skin which would require a fair amount of stitching. She hadn't realised she was worried about the consequences of firing her weapon until McGregor told her someone had been hospitalised; quite frankly she had been too worried about herself and Holly. Gail knew she had no choice but to fire and she had given the guy plenty of warnings; he could have backed off. Even so, no cop wanted to kill someone in the line of duty and Gail remembered only too well how badly Dov had been affected, even after he had been cleared by Internal Affairs.

Usually anyone who fired their weapon in the line of duty would be suspended whilst the incident was investigated by IA, but as they had no suspect or evidence of an injury until now, Gail had been left on the job. McGregor explained that unless the guy admitted he was involved in the incident and it was a gunshot wound, IA couldn't investigate Gail. She suspected the brass had pulled some strings and although she knew she should be grateful, she was also unhappy with her family name giving her special privileges and worried she may have to face the consequences later on. She had dealt with IA once before, and it had not gone well.

Sanderson noticed her turmoil and moved to reassure her; "Don't worry, Peck. It was a good shoot. You'll be fine even if they do look into it," he said.

She smiled at her partner, grateful for his support in front of the rest of the team. McGregor interjected before she could thank him though; "The detectives in charge of the case will interview this man once you have confirmed he is who we think he is. If he then admits to being there, IA will rubberstamp events. My boss has already spoken to them, and they understand that as there is only two weeks until trial, you need to be kept on duty and on this assignment," McGregor didn't sound too thrilled with that, but Gail didn't push it and simply nodded her understanding. She had a sneaking suspicion the staff sergeant would have fired her if he had his way, even with Holly taking the blame. But it seemed that he had been told to hold off and Gail was relieved that it was the importance of the case and not the Peck name that kept her out of hot water. That was something at least and she was pleased she wasn't going to have to drop out now. For one thing, it meant she would still be seeing Holly every day.

That dealt with, the team did have plenty of questions for Gail about what had happened yesterday and as she talked about it she realised something.

"They didn't want to hurt Holly," she said slowly. "They were going to take her with them. One of them told the other to put her in the van,"

"So it was a kidnap attempt?" Jake asked.

"Yeah," Gail agreed.

"It would seem they were planning on using Dr. Stewart as leverage then," McGregor pointed out. "They know they can no longer get to Kate Stewart, or the parents. They were hoping to flush them out into the open by taking the last member of the family still in the country,"

Gail shuddered. She hated to think about what could have happened to Holly if the gangsters had been successful. She tried to hide her worry from the others, nodding along with them as if she had a purely professional interest.

"So should we expect another attempt?" asked McNally, looking around the team as they sat at the battered table in the back room of the safe house, looking out into the drizzling rain.

"Possibly," mused McGregor. "The good news for us though is even if they are still interested, we can rule out long range attacks – snipers, explosives. If they do want to keep Dr. Stewart alive, they will have to get close - that makes our job easier,"

This time Gail couldn't hide her horror. She had known all along that Holly was under threat, but she had never considered it could be so serious as a murder attempt. The fact that McGregor was pleased somebody would have to get close to Holly in order to hurt her felt sickening.

"They must want her alive. If they kill her, what do they have over Kate? If I was Kate Stewart and they killed my sister to try and shut me up it would make me more determined to give evidence. What would I have left to lose?" Sanderson's theory was a sound one, though Gail could see a hole in it.

"Holly knows some of the details of Robak & Kolarov's business," she told the team. "Kate told her. If they can get to Kate, Holly would still be a loose end,"

Jacob Chen shook his head, "It would be inadmissible in court though, surely?"

Gail shrugged. "I'm no lawyer. And if you were Kolarov, would you want to take that chance?" she asked.

All of the cops around the table looked at one another. Nobody knew exactly what the ramifications were of Holly knowing too much.

"How would they know what Holly knows though?" McNally asked suddenly, and that was another question which stumped the team. There was a long period of silence, before McGregor took charge.

"It doesn't matter," he said firmly. "This doesn't change what we're here to do; protect the doctor. Maybe they want to harm her to frighten her sister, or maybe silence her. Either way it's our job to stop that from happening,"

All the officers around the table agreed immediately with that assessment, and Gail found herself actually liking McGregor a little more. Sure the guy was a pain in the ass, but she had to admit that he was dedicated to doing his job well and that was something Gail always admired. She shared one shift a week with him, when it was Sanderson's rest day and although those shifts were never as good as when the younger cop was partnered with her, she had learned to tolerate McGregor's gruff professionalism.

"So, tell us what's new boss?" asked Jake. "That's the mission; but how are we going to do it now we're here?"

McGregor went on to explain the details of their move to the safe house. He was anticipating that this would be their base for the next two weeks until the trial. Once the trial began, Kate Stewart would be back in Canada and he was expecting Holly to fly to Vancouver to be with her sister and probably parents. That would be the end of this team's role, because court assigned officials would be appointed to protect the family. Gail felt a pang of disappointment and fear at that. Disappointment because Holly would be away for a while after Gail's job had ended, which was when she was hoping the two of them could perhaps become a little more official. And fear because what if some Vancouver idiot didn't do his job properly?

"Can we volunteer for that?" Sanderson enquired. "Jake and I, I mean, when we go home?"

"We'll see," McGregor replied and Gail resolved that she too would try and volunteer. She had no idea how it would work; where she would stay in Vancouver or how she could persuade Frank to let her go for another few weeks. Potentially, it was going to be a long trial. But if it meant she could spend more time with Holly, then she would figure it out.

She tuned back in to what McGregor was saying just in time to hear about the arrangements at the safe house. Shift patterns wouldn't change but the handovers were likely to be a little longer. Transporting Holly from work to the house in particular was going to be harder as they couldn't afford to have anyone follow them and discover where Holly was hiding out. McGregor planned to use some old classics such as decoy cars and anti-tracking manoeuvres, but they would all have to be extra vigilant. McGregor also asked all of them to be careful when travelling to and from their new location and told them that now they had more room, they could stay over whenever they needed to.

With that, McGregor declared the meeting closed and Gail was duly packed off to the hospital to identify the mystery patient. Sure enough, it was the bald headed guy who had attacked them. Gail was given the opportunity to sit in on the interrogation in order to rattle him. They all hoped that if he saw the woman who had shot him, it would prompt him to realize that they were on to him – that they knew what he did and how he had been injured. Unfortunately, he remained resolutely silent. She couldn't help but wonder what sort of boss could instil that level of fear and discipline in his troops; and how he did it.

By the time Gail left the hospital, it was past midday and once again it looked like her rest period was down to a minimal few hours again. She made a mental note to ask if she was getting overtime for all these hours she was putting in lately. Giving up on actually spending some time resting at home, she instead dropped by to pick up some stuff and a change of clothes before heading back to the safe house. She had the luxury of grabbing a shower before crashing out in the same room that she had commandeered as her own yesterday.

When she was gently shaken awake later, it only felt like she had slept for minutes. She swatted groggily at the hand on her shoulder as she tried to burrow back into the bed clothes.

"I'm sorry, honey, but it's time to get up," she heard, and it was the term of endearment that shocked her awake more so than the instruction itself.

She rolled over and opened her eyes to see Holly perched on the side of the bed, peering down at her.

"What did you say?" Gail asked

Holly opened her mouth to repeat herself but as she did so she replayed her words in her head, and Gail could see the moment she realised what she had said when she blushed and broke eye contact.

"It's time to get up?" she answered, glossing over the rest of her sentence.

Gail gave her a suspicious look. She knew what she had heard. Honestly, she kind of liked it which was a surprise. She had never really been one for pet names; Chris insisted on calling her babe and it made her want to punch him. But 'honey' had fallen easily from Holly's lips and settled over her like a gentle embrace.

"I thought I heard something else," she said, teasing the doctor.

"No, don't think so," Holly hastily told her, her blush not diminishing. She couldn't believe she had let that one slip, and she knew from the look on Gail's face that she had definitely heard it. Oh well. She tried to turn the tables; "You're cute when you're asleep," she grinned, knowing the cop wouldn't appreciate that description, even if she didn't seem to mind being called honey.

Sure enough, Gail glared back at her. "Yeah, well. So are grizzly bears. And then they wake up and rip your head off," she sassed back.

Holly laughed. "Ok, Grizzly!" she replied. "But Scott sent me to get you up. He thought you were less likely to rip my head off than his,"

"True," Gail reflected. "What time is it?" she asked, but grabbed her phone to check without waiting for an answer. "Shit, it's past nine! Why didn't you wake me earlier?" Her shift was supposed to start at seven. She was surprised Sanderson hadn't already dragged her out of bed.

"Andy said she'd cover a couple of hours for you, don't worry," Holly reassured her. "But she's just heading home now, so Scott sent me up,"

"Ok, give me five and I'll be ready," Gail said, shaking herself into action. She threw back the covers and noticed Holly glance down at her bare legs with more than a passing interest. She grinned. "Are you planning on letting me get changed, or are you going to watch me like that for all those five minutes?" she asked.

Holly snapped her eyes back to Gail's with a guilty shrug. She knew she had been busted, but if Gail went to bed in shorts that short, then what did she expect? She got up to go and give Gail some privacy, but suddenly remembered the package in her hand.

"Oh! I picked this up at the lab earlier for you!" she said, offering it Gail.

The cop took it and pulled open the paper bag to find her gun nestled inside. Clearly forensics had finished doing their standard tests. She pulled it out and examined the weapon carefully, making sure they had taken it apart properly and there was no damage.

"Thanks," she said with a genuine smile, as she clicked the chamber and looked down the barrel.

"No problem. Ballistics are all done with their testing. But you can put it away now," Holly said and Gail could detect a little nervousness in her tone.

"Are you afraid of guns, Holly?" she asked.

"No. I'm not afraid. Just wary,"

"Hmm," Gail hummed in surprise. It was unusual for someone in law enforcement to be nervous around guns. Although she guessed Holly was forensics, so would never really have to be around them that much. That gave her a thought; "You know, you should learn to shoot one, with all this going on," she told her. If Holly could fire a gun, it would allow her to protect herself should the worst happen.

"I'm not sure about that, Gail," Holly demurred, with a shake of her head.

"Think about it. I could talk to McGregor, and maybe take you to the range?"

"Maybe," said Holly, and Gail nodded in response. "Anyway, I'll let you get ready,"

Holly turned away to go, but was stopped by Gail's hand on her arm.

"Aren't you forgetting something else?" Gail asked, as Holly twisted back round to face her. Gail's smile was wide. She knelt on the bed so that she was level with Holly and leant in to softly kiss her lips.

"Hi," she said, as they pulled apart.

"Hi," Holly replied with an equally big smile before she cupped Gail's face with her hands and made sure she gave her a proper kiss; deepening it by moving her tongue into the other woman's mouth and lightly touching it against Gail's own tongue. Both of them sighed as they pulled apart.

"Just so you know, that would have been a better way to wake me up," Gail told her.

"I'll remember that next time," Holly agreed, playing with Gail's hair a little before backing off. "Get ready then, or Scott will think we're up to something,"

Gail raised her eyebrows, "I think the fact he sent you up here probably says it all anyway," she told her, as she climbed out of bed and rustled through her duffle bag for some clean clothes.

"You think he knows?" Holly asked, surprised.

"I think he suspects something, rather than knows anything," Gail replied as she whipped her t-shirt off.

Holly gulped at the sight of so much skin on show. She quickly turned her face away; "I'll just leave you to that," she murmured, moving towards the door.

"Oh sit down you prude!" Gail said, exasperated. She wasn't shy about her body; never had been. "I'll be done in thirty seconds,"

 _That was all very well_ , thought Holly, _but she might just spontaneously combust in thirty seconds_. She risked sneaking another peak at Gail's bra clad torso, before firmly turning her head away and focussing on a plaster patch in the wall.

"So, your team meeting sounded pretty intense this morning?" she asked, desperately searching for a topic to keep her mind off the half-naked blonde standing not six feet away from her, in a room which had a bed in it.

"You heard us?" Gail asked, her voice slightly muffled and Holly hoped that meant she was pulling a shirt on over her head.

"Little bit, before I jumped in the shower," she admitted.

"The guy I shot yesterday has turned up in hospital," Gail informed her, "But he's clammed up and giving us nothing,"

"Are you ok?"

"What do you mean?" Gail asked, confused at why Holly would be enquiring about her at that news. She finished pulling her clothes on and went to sit next to Holly on the bed.

"It can't be easy, having to hurt someone," Holly mused, and she absentmindedly lifted her hand and traced her fingertips across the cut on Gail's cheek before moving them to the bruise on her forehead.

Gail shrugged, "I didn't have a choice,"

"No, I know. He would have shot us, Gail," she agreed, shuddering at the thought.

"We spoke about it in the meeting this morning. I think they wanted to kidnap you, not hurt you," Gail said. She didn't want to scare Holly, but she thought the other woman deserved to know the details of what was going on. It couldn't hurt if it made Holly a little more careful either.

Sure enough, Holly looked horrified at that information, "Kidnap me? Like, for blackmail or something?" she asked and Gail nodded. Holly shuffled closer so that her body was touching Gail, and she placed her hand on the other woman's thigh, gripping it lightly. "I'm so glad you were there, Gail," she said.

Gail looked down and placed her own hand over Holly's. She was glad too. The thought of Holly being snatched by some gangster made her sick to the stomach and she had a sudden flash back to being bound by the tight leather straps in Perik's cellar, and the click of his shoes approaching across the stone floor. It was so vivid that she gasped and tightened her grip on Holly's hand.

"Are you alright?" Holly asked curiously, noticing the whiteness of Gail's knuckles.

The blonde made a conscious effort to relax her grip. Holly wouldn't realise that particular memory had been triggered because she didn't know about her ordeal. It wasn't something Gail liked to share, usually relying on her friends to fill in anyone new. She was still ashamed about what had happened, and she certainly didn't want the brunette to think of her as weak. Holly was supposed to be able to trust Gail to protect her, and how could she do that once she knew the cop couldn't even protect herself? On the other hand, it might not do any harm to let Holly know how important it was to be extra vigilant, and the possible consequences of something happening. Holly did seem to have this strange power to make her drop her guard and share her inner thoughts anyway. When she really thought about it, Gail somehow knew she would tell Holly all about Perik herself one day anyway. She wanted the brunette to know the full story, how terrified and helpless she had been, rather than the dry official account. Before she could stop herself, she blurted it out; "I was kidnapped once."

Holly stilled, and turned her body towards Gail without letting go of her hand. She studied the side profile of Gail's face, looking for any indication that she might have misheard that statement. Gail's tone had been conversational, and yet her words had dropped a bombshell.

"What did you say?" Holly asked.

"I went on an undercover op. I was supposed to be an escort and I had to pick this guy up in a hotel bar. I was woefully underprepared, but somehow pulled it off. Then I got a taxi home. And the driver shoved through my door, beat me up and tied me up in his basement," Gail recited the bare bones of her story in a monotone voice and Holly felt an icy finger of dread creep up her spine. She swallowed hard, wanting to wrap her arms round the woman in front of her but knew somehow that the affection wouldn't be appreciated. Instead, she kept her voice soft and steady and simply rubbed her thumb across the back of Gail's hand.

"What happened, Gail?"

Gail shrugged and shook her head. How did you explain about being abducted by a serial killer? "It was bad," she started, before tailing off. She shrugged again. "It was over a year ago. Feels like a long time and feels like yesterday. That's weird isn't it?"

"No," Holly said, watching the other woman carefully. She could sense the pain radiating off her and wondered if this incident was the source of some of the guarded circumspection Gail carried with her like a shield. "I barely know anything about you," she murmured, wondering how that could be true when she felt so close to this spiky cop.

"You know more than a lot of people," Gail replied, frowning. She and Holly had spent hours talking over the past few weeks. Gail Peck didn't have that sort of relationship with anyone.

"You don't have to tell me about this, if you don't want to," Holly said, offering her a way out.

But Gail looked up to meet gentle brown eyes full of concern, and the story tumbled out of her. She explained how Perik had grabbed her, and the terrifying moment she knew she was being drugged. She told her how helpless she had felt, strapped down in the cellar and listening to the crazed man's monologues. She relived the conversation when Perik had found out she was a cop and described the cold, hard certainty of the moment she knew she was going to die. And she told Holly about Jerry.

"I read his wedding speech out at The Penny. When Traci couldn't. He should have been there to read it himself, but we had to," she finished, and a tear slid down her face.

Holly caught it with her thumb, and then tenderly kissed the spot on Gail's cheek, tasting the salty remnants on her lips.

"Oh honey. I'm so sorry you had to go through that," she said and she couldn't help tugging Gail in for a hug.

Gail allowed herself a moment to sigh into Holly's shoulder before pulling back and giving her a small smile.

"That's twice you've called me honey," she stated. Even with Perik on her mind, she had noticed that and held onto it, forcing thoughts of the killer out of her brain.

Holly smiled back, a little bashful. She tried to brazen it out; "Well you call me lots of nicknames. Nerd, Doc, Lunchbox…"

"Honey isn't a nickname," Gail told her.

"No. It isn't," Holly replied, shrugging.

"Honey is something you call someone you're having a _thing_ with,"

"I suppose it could be,"

"But we're not having a thing. We agreed,"

"Not yet," Holly quickly retorted, wanting to make that clear. "We're not having a thing _yet_ ,"

"So is honey something that you could call someone that maybe you might be having a future thing with, sometime soon?" Gail asked, smiling at the other woman's confusion.

"I would say that would depend on whether that someone minded being called honey," replied Holly, wanting to gain a foothold in the conversation. Was Gail saying she didn't like the term of endearment?

Gail ran her hand up Holly's arm and fiddled with the collar of her shirt, the half-smile on her face not diminishing. She didn't answer, instead tipping her head to meet Holly's lips with her own, kissing her slowly.

As they pulled apart, Holly saw mischief dance in Gail's blue eyes and understood she was being teased. "I like calling you honey," she announced firmly.

"And I like it when you call me honey," she finally admitted, deciding to let her off the hook

They grinned at each other, still and silent for a beat before a yell from downstairs broke the spell.

"Come on you," Holly said, standing up and offering her hand to pull Gail up. "Scott's thinking that we've abandoned him,"

Gail rolled her eyes. "He can wait a little longer. He's lucky it was you who came to wake me. It usually takes me much longer than this to get up,"

Holly nodded, "Because you're a grizzly bear, right?" she asked, as she opened the bedroom door.

Gail wrinkled her nose. "Ok, I can cope with honey. But you're going to have to drop the grizzly bear thing," she told the other woman.

Holly laughed, "You started it. You have quite the penchant for animal analogies, don't you?" she said, thinking back to Gail's cat story.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the cop replied with a completely blank expression, and Holly couldn't help but tease her a little more.

"Anyway. I can ditch Grizzly, no problem. I've already picked out your nickname, my little Hedgehog," she declared.

Gail's gaze narrowed and she suspiciously eyed the woman stood by her bedroom door. "Hedgehog?" she growled.

"Yep. Because you're very prickly. But very cute!" Holly told her and giggled delightedly at her own wit. She just about managed to shut the door in time to block the pillow Gail launched at her. "See you downstairs!" she called, skipping towards the stairs and leaving Gail to growl at the closed door. _Hedgehog? That was definitely not a nickname that was going to stick around,_ she decided.

Holly slowed on the stairs to try and school her expression into a normal every day look, instead of one of a giddy schoolgirl. But she had finally found a nickname to counter Lunchbox. _Hedgehog_ _._ She decided she liked it; definitely a keeper!


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N Hey folks. This has taken a while; I'm sorry about that. I'll be honest, it's because this chapter just didn't flow particularly well. It's probably had three total re re-writes since I first put it down on paper back in December! But you know, sometimes you've just got to roll with what you've got. So, with that said, I shall rock on. Poor Gail - she hates people. And yet I make her have a chat with Steve, a chat with Holly and a chat with Sanderson here. She's probably going to taser me in the eye at some point. Hope you all have a lovely Easter break. I am currently away with work and the hotel I am staying in has given me a Cadbury Mini Eggs Easter egg. Winner!**

 **Cheers,**

 **Sam**

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Gail regretted picking up the phone the moment she heard the scornful tone in Steve's voice.

"What's this I hear about you _losing_ your gun?"

"Oh get lost, Steven!" she huffed.

"No, seriously! I mean, did they not teach you anything at the Academy, eh? Standards must have slipped since my days…"

At that point, Gail hung up on him and returned to her reading material as she sat in the living room, waiting for McNally & Chen to drop Holly home. It was still too early for her shift to start, but Sanderson had insisted on getting there ahead of time and as the lanky officer was the one who drove her to work every day, she had little choice in the matter. Her partner was currently rattling around the kitchen putting his grand plan into action; he had decided to cook dinner for them all. Gail had spent five minutes in there with him but after witnessing the chaos start to unfold she had beaten a hasty retreat. She could spend hours watching Holly cook; she found the calm and organised way the brunette managed her kitchen to be strangely mesmerising. She had in fact wondered whether she was some sort of closet foodie, having never had much interest in the art of cooking before. However, after five minutes in the kitchen with Sanderson, she realised it wasn't the cooking she found soothing – it was being around Holly. Sanderson was an enthusiastic chef, but the mess, the noise and the sheer slap dash approach he applied sent her running for the sanctuary of the living room.

Aside from the occasional crash coming from the kitchen, she was enjoying her peaceful evening reading a journal she had stolen from Holly's office a couple of days ago. She didn't have a clue what the title meant, but when she saw a certain Dr. Holly Stewart listed as the author she couldn't resist swiping it. Now she could definitely say she had learnt lots about Coronary Arteriosclerosis, because Holly had the ability to explain even complicated scientific theories really clearly. Granted, there were still some aspects of the article that were beyond her comprehension, but it didn't matter. She fancied that she could hear Holly's voice behind the words, and that was all it took for her to continue reading.

However, before she could settle back into the journal, her phone rang again. Knowing it was her brother, she cut the call off, and flicked the phone to silent. Ten seconds later, it began to buzz and dance across the surface of the coffee table. Growling, Gail stuffed it under one of the cushions she was leaning against before starting at the top of the page again. But Steve was nothing if not persistent, and the phone vibrated twice, indicating a text message had come through.

 _Steve: Answer the phone, Gail!_

As she read the message, another one pinged into her inbox.

 _Steve: Come on! I was just kidding!_

She hit reply and told him to get lost, albeit in slightly more colourful language this time. However, her brother knew how to push her buttons.

 _Steve: I have some info on the case…_

Gail sighed. Sometimes, she hated the elder Peck. She dialled his number and as soon as he answered she barked out a warning. "This had better be good!"

"Hey little sis. Lovely to talk to you too! I'm fine thanks, how are you doing?" he replied in sickly sweet tone.

"You're boring me already," Gail told him.

"So let's talk about something more interesting," he shot back. "What happened on Sunday?"

It had been three days since the jogging debacle and Gail couldn't believe her brother didn't know exactly what went on that day. In fact, when his name flashed up on her screen she had half thought he might be calling to check she was ok. But of course, why would any member of her family bother with that when they could berate her instead? Steve was just staying true to Peck form.

"Leave it Steve. It was a screw up, as you well know,"

"Yeah, so I've heard!" he chastised.

"Look, if you're calling just to yell at me about that, you can stuff it. I've heard it all already. And if you're going to sack me for messing up, then go ahead," she said defiantly.

Steve sensed that his sister was genuinely touchy about the subject, so he took pity on her; "No, I wasn't, of course not. I heard you did good, Gail. You saved Dr. Stewart. That's why I wanted you on this – I knew I could trust you,"

"Whatever. You wanted me because you couldn't force anyone else to say yes," Gail corrected him, ignoring the praise.

"Hey, the guys tell me you seem to be enjoying yourself. You should be thanking me; maybe I've helped you find your niche?" the detective suggested

"Who told you that?" Gail asked, suspiciously. She was enjoying the assignment, although that had nothing to do with the work itself and everything to do with the company. So maybe she should be thanking Steve for helping her find something…but what exactly that something was, she couldn't yet say. And she didn't think she had been that obvious for her colleagues to notice that this job wasn't exactly a chore.

"I am still on this case you know. Did you think I've just been letting everyone do their own thing? I get weekly reports!"

"How incredibly dull," drawled Gail.

"How are things then?" Steve enquired

"Fine,"

"Is that all I'm getting?"

"Surely your report tells you everything you need to know?"

Steve sighed. She was so dense sometimes, "Are you okay Gail, that's what I'm asking?"

"I'm fine!" she replied shortly, thoroughly exasperated by this stage.

He gave up, knowing that he wasn't going to get anything else out of his sister. "You've moved to a safe house now, eh? How's that?"

"Would you believe me if I told you it's fine?" Gail answered, deliberately dropping that word into the conversation again.

"Not if you're in the flat down on Richmond. I've been undercover there, it's a flea pit," Steve told her.

"Doesn't your report tell you where we are?" she asked.

"No. Need to know only. Which one is it then?" he threw the question out there without expecting an answer and sure enough, Gail didn't indulge him.

"Can't tell you," she sang at him, pleased to have one over her brother. Just at that moment, the front door opened and she heard Holly and Andy out in the hallway. She grinned and tried to hurry Steve off the line. "Look, I gotta go. My shift is starting. Did you actually have anything to tell me, or are you just checking up on me?"

"Oh. I just wanted to say that we've held that goon you shot. We searched his flat and came up with enough cash and drugs to charge him on a few counts. That should give us time to sweat him on who he was working with on Sunday…" Steve explained.

However, her attention was lost when Holly walked in and gave her a cheerful greeting; "Hey Gail!"

"Hey," the cop replied and she waved off the apology Holly tried to mouth at her when she realised Gail was on the phone. "Be careful in there! Sanderson is cooking!" she called out when the pathologist headed towards the kitchen and Holly pulled a mock scared face before disappearing.

"Was that the doc?" Steve asked, hearing her voice over the phone.

"Yeah. She's back, so I've got to run," Gail told him.

"What's she like?"

Gail froze, wondering if her brother had heard some sort of rumour and was fishing for information. "What do you mean?" she hedged.

"She's pretty good apparently. The detectives in my squad have been impressed so far," he replied, and she breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't asking about her and Holly. Until now, it hadn't crossed her mind what her family would say about her relationship with Holly. Not that it was a relationship yet of course, she had to keep reminding herself of that. Obviously her mother would first and foremost be worried about the family reputation, and Gail rolled her eyes about that. She was guessing that having a lesbian daughter probably wasn't top of Elaine Peck's list of ideal criteria for the perfect policing family unit. Her dad would follow whatever Elaine said, and Steve? Steve would just use it as an opportunity to rib her. She heard her brother call her name down the phone line and realised she had zoned out of the conversation and he probably thought he had been cut off.

"Oh. Yeah, she's on the ball. Very smart, massive nerd…yeah," Gail managed to stop herself, realising she was babbling in her relief that Steve was asking for a professional opinion about Holly rather than a personal one.

"Are you sure you're okay? You sound weird," he asked.

"I'm…"

"Fine, yeah I know!" Steve cut her off before she could say it again. "Alright little sis. I'll let you get back to being a badass bodyguard. Let me know if you need anything though, okay?"

"Just keep me posted on that bald loser," Gail replied, and they ended the call.

It was good timing, because at that moment Holly came rushing out. "Have you seen the mayhem in there?" she demanded, pointing towards the kitchen.

"It's not pretty," Gail agreed.

"Couldn't you stop him?" asked Holly as she flopped down on the sofa next to the cop.

"Not my kitchen, not my problem!"

"I'm really glad Scott didn't try to cook at my place," Holly said, shaking her head.

"Oh I'd have helped you clean up at your place," Gail qualified her earlier statement.

"Really?"

"Well. Maybe," the blonde said, wanting to believe it but knowing it was more than likely she would have simply yelled at Sanderson to sort his shit out, and then spent the evening supervising him.

"Thanks Gail," Holly replied, rolling her eyes. "Andy is in there anyway. I'm hoping she can sort him out,"

"I wouldn't count on it," Gail drawled, with a well-practiced air of cynicism.

Holly shrugged and changed the subject, "Was that your brother on the phone?"

"Yep. Checking up on me after the weekend's fiasco,"

"That's sweet," the pathologist offered, despite Gail's less than enthusiastic tone. She didn't quite understand the other woman's relationship with her brother. Steve had come up in a few of their conversations, sometimes fondly and sometimes with what Holly could only describe as bitterness.

"Hmmm. If he was that sweet, he would have called the day it happened, not three days later," Gail told her, pulling a face.

"He's just looking out for you. That's what siblings do," replied Holly, reaching over to squeeze Gail's knee. "Cut him a bit of slack, Gail" she advised.

The blonde huffed at her so Holly decided not to push it and changed her subject. "What are you reading?" she asked, grabbing the journal from where it rested on the arm of the couch. Her jaw dropped when she read the title. "Hey! I've been looking for this!"

Gail shrugged and tried to look innocent, "You couldn't have looked very hard; I just found it lying around on the coffee table," she said.

"Gail, this _was_ on my desk at work!" Holly admonished, rolling the journal up and swatting the other woman on the arm with it.

The cop laughed as she avoided Holly's attacks and tried to grab the paper back. "Nope. You must have brought it back here," she insisted, fending off a particularly wild swing and neatly swiping the weapon from the brunette's grasp.

Holly frowned at her. "No, I did not! Did you steal this from my office?" she asked, her voice stern. However she couldn't hide the amusement in her eyes that showed Gail she wasn't serious.

"I am an officer of the law, Ms. Stewart. How dare you accuse me of such a thing?" she answered, with as much solemnity as she could muster.

"That's _Doctor_ Stewart to you, and in my official capacity as a Forensic Pathologist, you should know that I will find the inevitable evidence that you left behind and when I do, I will bring you down," Holly announced and she raised her eyebrows to stare Gail down.

The police officer returned the gaze steadily for a beat or two, before the pair of them burst into laughter. However, a sudden crash from the kitchen, and McNally's subsequent yelp reminded them that they weren't alone. Gail immediately shifted towards her own end of the couch, realizing that during their play fight she had ended up much closer to Holly than could be deemed appropriate. She had gotten caught up in the moment and she knew how stupid that was. She took a couple of subtle deep breaths in order to bring herself back under control.

"Do you really read this stuff?" she asked, tossing the Forensics paper back to the doctor.

"I wrote that stuff," Holly replied.

"Oh, I hadn't realised that," Gail lied. Holly gave her a knowing smile in return but didn't bother correcting her. Instead she smoothed the pages down and fixed the bent corners that had mysteriously appeared on the page where her own article started.

"It's good," came the voice from the other end of the sofa, and the brunette couldn't hide her surprise.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

"I thought your article was interesting," Gail shrugged. She picked a loose thread out of the fabric of the couch and scowled at the resulting hole she had made. When Holly didn't reply, she looked up to see the other woman giving her a suspicious stare. "What?" she demanded.

"I'm waiting for the punchline," Holly told her.

Gail blinked. "Well that's the last time I compliment you then," she said and turned her attention back to ruining the upholstery.

"Really? You're being serious?"

"I can be nice occasionally you know," the cop replied, starting to wonder why she bothered.

Holly rushed to apologise. "Of course you can! Sorry, I was just surprised you wanted to read my stuff, let alone enjoyed it," she said, feeling guilty that Gail had made the effort and she had just thrown it back at her.

"Hmmm," hummed the blonde, still looking a bit crestfallen and so Holly scooted across to get closer to her.

"Thank you Gail, it means a lot to me that you read my work," she said, and gave the cop a quick kiss on the cheek. That small act seemed to thaw the frosty attitude a little, so Holly indulged her curiosity. "Why did you want to read it though?" she asked.

Gail gave a shrug of her shoulders as she thought about that. She wasn't sure she could explain it, but she had this insatiable urge to drink in everything she could about Holly, even to go as far as reading her nerdy science books. She felt like she knew the other woman so well, yet was conscious that they had only known each other a few weeks. The conversation they had shared a couple of days ago when she had revealed the story of what happened with Perik only reinforced that. Holly had mentioned how she didn't know much about Gail, whereas the cop felt she had shared more with Holly in the past four weeks than she had with anyone in the past four years. It made her realize how little she knew about the doctor. So when she had found herself waiting in Holly's office for shift handover, she took the opportunity to learn a little more about the professional side of the quirky nerd who had so captivated her.

"I just wanted to know more about what you do," she admitted, deciding to stick with an honest answer but not going into all the details that churned through her mind.

The pathologist suddenly realised where Gail was coming from, "Because of what I said the other day? After you told me about the kidnapping?"

"See, it took Steve a week to call me after that happened. That's why I was snarky about him earlier. It upset me, but back then I pretended that it didn't. And nobody else knows the truth," she stated. Holly frowned a little, not following the apparent change of topic but Gail plunged on to explain herself. "What I mean is that you think you don't know me, but you know more than most. I tell you things. If anything I think I know even less about you." she declared.

Holly nodded her understanding, and didn't question her any further. She playfully nudged Gail in the ribs; "Well you could just ask me whatever you want to know, rather than turning into a petty criminal!" she teased.

The police officer thought about that as she checked her watch. She saw they had plenty of time before the ETA that Sanderson had given her earlier for their meal. This could be an interesting game. "Okay. I can ask you anything, and you'll answer?"

Holly grimaced as she realised she might have just put herself into a world of trouble with that offer. "Here's the deal. We'll take turns to ask a question, and we _both_ have to answer," she sought to caveat things somewhat, rather than giving Gail free reign to interrogate her.

Gail contemplated that for a moment before agreeing. "Okay, but I get to go first because I already told you my answer to this one the other night. What's the worst thing that has ever happened to you?"

The doctor raised one eyebrow. "Um, probably all this with Kate and the whole being attacked in the street situation?" she suggested and Gail gave herself a mental thunk on the head.

"Sorry, stupid question," she grouched, annoyed that she had wasted her turn.

"It's fine," Holly replied, not upset by it. This may have been an ongoing nightmare but apart from the obvious moments, on the whole she had been fairly relaxed about the circumstance she found herself caught up in. And it had brought Gail to her, which was something unexpected but simultaneously welcome and exhilarating and was the primary reason why she couldn't be completely negative about the past month's tribulations. She smiled at the woman who sat cross legged on the couch, her side propped against the cushions so she could face Holly.

Gail stared at her expectantly but she had to prompt the doctor who was caught up in her own thoughts. "Go on then. You ask me something,"

"Oh! Um…what's your favourite colour?" Holly ended up asking the first thing that popped into her head and could only shrug when Gail wrinkled her nose.

"Lame, Lunchbox!" Gail scolded. "It's black. What's yours?"

"Blue," said Holly, with a dreamy tone as she gazed directly into Gail's eyes. In particular, the exact shade of light sky blue that she could see looking back at her although she wasn't going to admit that given it was a recent development.

"How did you know you were into girls?" the police officer asked, again rudely interrupting Holly's daydreams. The pathologist blinked at Gail's directness, but answered anyway.

"Oh. I kind of always knew, but it really dawned on me when I was a teenager and my friends would discuss the plot of last night's X Files episode and I couldn't remember half of it because I'd only been watching it for Scully. I was the only fan on the planet who didn't cheer when she finally got together with Mulder," the brunette explained.

Gail snorted. "River Song, Agent Scully. You really have a thing for all these badass sci-fi women, eh?"

The doctor shrugged and grinned, "Why do you think I became a scientist?"

"Because you're a nerd?"

Holly rolled her eyes and ignored the jibe. "Your turn to answer the same question," she told Gail, with an arched eyebrow.

The cop looked flummoxed for a moment, realising she had shot herself in the foot asking that question. But she had been curious; she didn't know much about Holly's past. And her own sudden realisation that she may not have been quite as straight as she had always thought was still weighing on her mind. She wasn't bothered by it, more like surprised. She just thought she had finally reached the stage in her life where she knew who she was. _Guess not,_ she supposed. Had she been attracted to other women in the past? She had messed about a little with a couple of her friends when she was in her late teens but nothing was ever serious; it was mainly to drive the boys in their circle of friends a little crazy. And she had always been able to recognise a beautiful woman, even remarking about it occasionally when she was with Nick or Chris. Both men had been taken aback by their girlfriend pointing out a hot girl across the room for them to look at, but Gail had failed to see anything odd about it at the time. She couldn't help but marvel at the warm confidence some women seemed to exude without even trying. _Traci has that,_ she realised with a sudden start as she mentally reviewed all the women she had known. _Did I ever have a crush on Nash?_ She remembered asking her out for lunch once. But as quickly as that possibility hit her, she discounted it as she looked across at Holly. She liked Traci a lot, but she didn't feel drawn to her in the same way that she was to the pathologist. It was a completely different emotion. She hadn't felt this compelled to spend time with any other woman; or any other person for that matter. She had desired all of her ex-boyfriends, of course she had. But actually dating them and spending time with them had sometimes been a chore; it wasn't like the easy rapport she had fallen into with Holly. She was always fairly relaxed and straightforward with Chris, but that was perhaps because they were friends first. With Nick - the first time around - there was an air of excitement because he was the bad boy who she knew wouldn't be good for her. The second time, it was almost as if she was going through the motions; she had to have dinner with him and chat about nothing in order to have the sex and security that came with having someone you could call your own. Their interactions felt more like a means to an end.

She continued to gaze at Holly who was waiting expectantly for the answer, and let her eyes drift over the brunette. _When had she first realised about Holly_ _? S_ he studied the other woman's face, noticing again how attractive she was: bronzed skin, dark expressive eyes and that enigmatic half smile. The long dark hair that seemed to sit perfectly in whatever style she chose, no matter how casually she was dressed. Gail pictured that moment at the batting cages when Holly had tossed her locks over her shoulder after taking off her helmet, and she felt a sudden jolt of arousal at the memory. Yet she knew that if she were honest with herself, she had been attracted to Holly way before that. Initially she had been captivated by her on a personal level; they had just connected from the start. She couldn't pinpoint the moment she had decided it was more than friendship…probably because she had fought it for so long. Gail's eyes wandered lower and she noticed that the first two buttons of Holly's royal blue shirt were undone, showing a white tank top underneath and more than a hint of cleavage. Gail stared. She really wanted to reach over and unbutton Holly's shirt to see her glorious skin and everything else hidden from her view. She swallowed hard. Her reaction to Holly was definitely something she hadn't felt before.

"Hey, earth to Officer Peck! Are you going to tell me, or is staring at my chest actually your answer?" Holly called her out. She had spotted the direction of Gail's gaze, and hadn't missed the expression of lust behind it. She secretly felt proud that she could provoke that reaction in the cop, and was more than a little relieved that Gail desired her in that way. She was still worried that this was all new to Gail and that she would change her mind or realise that it wasn't what she wanted but the heated stare that the blonde was giving her while they talked about being attracted to women certainly helped reduce her concerns. Holly grinned as Gail wrenched her eyes away to the side.

"Your arms!" the police officer blurted, as she noticed Holly had rolled her sleeves up to the elbow again.

"What?" asked the doctor, confused at the sudden confession.

"When we went to that bar," Gail muttered as her pale skin flushed red. "I found myself staring at your arms, and I realised I was attracted to you,"

"My arms?" Holly repeated, still perplexed. That wasn't really what she was expecting. She cast her mind back, but couldn't ever remember someone specifically complimenting her on her arms before. But trust Gail to be unorthodox! She grinned, and tried to decide which of the multitude of teasing comments that had sprung to mind to use first.

Before she could come out with anything, Gail shrugged, thoroughly embarrassed and hoping they could move on swiftly. She hadn't meant to say that. "You have amazing arms. I like arms. I like your arms," she said, reaching over and running her hand down Holly's bicep and then onto the bare skin of her forearm, noticing how the muscles in the brunette's upper arm clenched as she caressed the exposed skin. "Your question," she muttered, turning the attention back to their game.

Holly visibly shook herself to clear the fog. She had thought she had gotten one over on the blonde, but Gail's simple touch had caught her off guard.

"Um, why did you become a cop?" she asked without really thinking about it.

"Lame again!" Gail derisively announced.

"Well it's your job to ask questions! I'm new to all this!" she defended herself.

"I know, but you could at least put some effort into it. Policing is a family thing. I didn't really have a choice,"

"Yes you did. I know you were groomed for it, but you would have rebelled if you really wanted to. And I've seen you talk about your work and heard what the others say about you. You love it. So come on, why did you do it?" Holly persisted.

The police officer frowned; surprised that Holly hadn't taken her initial reply at face value. "I do like it," she started, mulling it over and realising it was true. She loved her job. "I think it's important that there is someone out there to protect people who can't protect themselves. That's what we do. Plus it's a challenge and every day is different. It makes me want to keep getting better," she explained, not sure whether that made sense of not. But the other woman nodded back at her, so Gail assumed she had at least gotten part of her point across.

"You like helping people," Holly clarified.

"Not really," Gail replied with a grimace. "Your turn. It can't all have been because of Scully. Why are you a dead people doctor?"

"I don't just do dead bodies you know!" she rebuked, but couldn't help laughing at Gail's description. Until she caught the other woman sniggering at her unintentional poor choice of phrase. "Oh grow up! Do you want to hear this story or not?"

The cop hurriedly contained herself and motioned for Holly to continue.

"I was always into science, so I _had_ to do something in this field. I had planned on being a doctor for a long time, but I realized that it just wasn't for me. I like that in this job I get to solve puzzles; everything has a process and when you combine that with sometimes having to think outside the box, the answer is there. In some ways it's the same as you; I help people who can't help themselves. People who can't tell you their story, I help figure it out,"

The cop nodded in agreement. Holly's job was pretty cool, she thought. "Tell me a secret," she said, having already planned her next turn at this game.

However, the brunette shook her head. "That's not a question," she stated.

"Can you tell me a secret?" Gail asked, scowling.

"Yes, I _can_ ," was Holly's reply and she displayed a smug smile at her own teasing.

"Oh just answer the question you great geek!"

Before Holly could answer though, Sanderson's voice yelled through from the kitchen. "Dinner is served, ladies!"

"Saved by the bell," Holly laughed and made a move to get up, but Gail reacted quickly and pinned her to the sofa.

"Nope, you've got to answer first, that's the game,"

Holly stared up at the woman who was now straddling her lap and holding her wrists against the back of the couch. She tried not to notice how closely their lower bodies were pressed together, or how compromising this position could look if someone were to walk in. She pushed against the cop, testing her resolve but Gail held firm and didn't shift her position. Holly had to fight the desire that shot through her body and tried to think of a suitable answer that Gail would accept without giving too much away. Some of the things running through her mind right now were definitely not appropriate for sharing. There wasn't a whole lot that Gail didn't know as she had been honest with the blonde since they had met…apart from when she was hiding her raging crush. Suddenly, the answer popped into her head and she craned her upper body forward to whisper in Gail's ear.

"I only kissed Jess that night because I was desperately trying to take my mind off how much I wanted to kiss you," she told her.

Gail's eyes widened, the sultry tone of Holly's voice and the close proximity of their bodies did strange things to her insides, causing her to make her own confession. "I wanted you to do that. I was so insanely jealous of her," she admitted her own secret as she released Holly's wrists and sat back a little to ease the tension.

However, Holly tracked her movements by leaning forward and kissing Gail soundly before moving away and using her hips to flip the blonde off her. She stood up and looked down at her stunned companion.

"I know. That's not a secret, Gail," she murmured before giving the other woman a dazzling smile and heading off in the direction of the kitchen.

By the time Gail had gathered her wits enough to follow, she found Holly helping Sanderson serve his casserole dish. She headed straight for the food, but noticed Andy was pulling on her coat and getting ready to leave which distracted her for a moment.

"Aren't you staying for dinner, McNally?" she asked, whilst grabbing a plate for herself and passing it over to Holly to fill with food.

Andy froze in shock. Even though she and Gail had been civil throughout the assignment, there had still been the tension between them that had been present since she and Nick got together. Truth be told, Andy still felt guilty about it and so had stayed clear of Gail whenever possible, giving the blonde the space she seemed to want. Over the past couple of weeks however, they had both done each other small favours by covering hours, yet McNally still didn't really feel like their relationship was recovering. She scrambled to answer, realising that everyone in the kitchen was looking at her. "Um, I wasn't sure whether I…" she trailed off, not wanting to expressly say she didn't know if she was welcome. She wasn't one hundred per cent sure whether Gail was actually inviting her to stay and didn't want to make a fool of herself.

"There's plenty to go round," Sanderson interjected, gesturing at the large casserole pot.

"There you go then. Grab a plate," Gail said, as if that settled the matter. Andy grinned, shrugged off her coat and did as she was told. She didn't know what had brought about this thaw in Gail's attitude towards her, but she wasn't going to complain.

As Andy served herself some food, Holly slid into the seat next to the blonde cop. "That was nice of you, inviting Andy to stay," she whispered quietly.

Gail shrugged, "Whatever. If you and I are suffering Sanderson's cooking, then McNally is going down with us" she replied, dismissing Holly's compliment. "I feel like food poisoning should be a shared experience."

Holly rolled her eyes. "It was still nice of you," she declared, before dubiously scooping up some beef stew on her fork and surreptitiously crossing her fingers behind her back as she tried Sanderson's concoction for the first time…

She fought to keep her face neutral and made all the right appreciative noises to Scott, but the knowing cackles from the blonde rang loud and clear in her ears long after they had finished the meal. Sanderson was no chef, that was for sure.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had become customary since they had been based at the safe house for Gail to sneak upstairs and say goodnight to Holly in a way that she couldn't do in front of her colleagues. Tonight however, when Gail made her way down stairs, she was so lost in her Holly-bubble that she was oblivious to her partner's scrutiny. He had been watching her closely these last few nights but the smile plastered across her face gave him the final clue he needed. And now he needed to confront her with his conclusion, but to be frank, he was dreading it. He cleared his throat, which brought Gail back from her daydream and so she finally noticed her partner sitting quietly on the edge of the table amongst the carnage from his earlier culinary adventure. She found it strange that he wore a stern expression instead of his usual friendly, easy going one so tried to pull him into their usual jokey conversation.

"Is cleaning up not one of your kitchen talents either?" Gail shot the insult at him as she pointed at the mess.

"You're doing the washing up," Sanderson countered.

She arched an eyebrow at him; "I don't think so,"

"Yes, you are," he insisted. "Because you owe me. Because you promised me something, and you've broken it."

Gail stilled, sensing that this was beyond banter and her partner really wasn't happy about something. However, she had no idea what.

"What are you talking about, Sanderson?" she asked.

"You and the doc!" he hissed, incredulous that she was oblivious to the problem.

She sighed and ran her hands through her hair, pressing the heels of her hands into her eye sockets. She rubbed her eyes, trying to ease the tension she felt. Her initial reaction was to tell him to fuck off and mind his own business…but he was right. She dropped her arms and walked slowly over to the table, pulling out a chair to sit near him.

"We're not…" she began, but Sanderson interrupted as he swung himself off the table and into the chair opposite her.

"Don't. Don't deny it and treat me like an idiot. You sneak upstairs every night and you look at each other like there's no one else in the room. And now you're doing things like letting Andy stay for dinner!" he shook his head in astonishment.

"I wasn't going to deny it," she snapped at him. "And I'm sorry I let you down. But I can't help it,"

"We talked about this, Gail. You agreed that it was a bad idea – you said you could handle it," Sanderson said.

"I thought I could. I didn't mean for anything to happen," she replied, shrugging her shoulders helplessly.

"You can't date our subject. You just can't," he told her, watching the visible signs of her conflict rage across her face.

"We're not dating," Gail clarified. "That's what I was going to say. Things got a bit heated after we were attacked, but we talked and we know we can't,"

"So what's all the sneaking around about? You're just sleeping with her?" he shot back.

"No! Jesus, no!" she yelled before remembering to keep her voice down. "We both like each other and we can't ignore it. But we're not having a thing,"

"So what are you doing?" he asked.

Gail paused. It was a good question and the honest answer was that she didn't know. It had all made sense when she had discussed it with Holly. "We're just not ignoring that we'd like to be having a thing," she explained.

Sanderson stared at her, "That is the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard," he stated and they both faced each other across the table, neither breaking the eye contact until Gail had to drop her head.

"Are you going to tell McGregor?" she asked, quietly.

The tall cop grimaced. "I don't know. I should,"

She nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah I know,"

"We keep breaking the rules, Peck. Hanging out like this is some holiday camp, going for that run. We got lucky but what if one day we don't?"

"It's okay if you tell him. I'll understand," she said.

"You're my partner. And my friend," Sanderson said, torn between his loyalty towards Gail and to his job.

She gave him a small smile and shrugged, "That's why I'll understand. I don't want you to be in a difficult position,"

"It's a bit late for that," he rebuked and she winced at his honesty, feeling the guilt wash over her.

"I can't justify it," she told him. "But I promise you that I'm still being careful, like you asked. Holly knows how it is too. And I don't mean to sneak around, I really don't. But I can't help how I feel. I really like her, Sanderson," Gail put her head in her hands, embarrassed at her admission.

"I should tell him. And I would, if I didn't still think you being here is the best thing for Holly…the best thing for our operation," he replied, finally coming to a decision. "But if that changes then we're done, you know that right?"

"I know. Thank you," she said, quietly,

"Don't thank me. Really, don't," Sanderson said, still upset with her. "We've got two weeks. Can you at least try not to make things any more complicated than they already are?"

She nodded vehemently. "I'll pull back a bit. I guess I got carried away. You're right," she promised.

"I know how you feel about her. And I don't want to be mad at you, but I am. And it's mainly because I'm worried, okay?" he asked and she nodded again. "I'm going to study. I'll catch you later,"

Sanderson got up from the table and she watched him leave, a weight settling in her chest. She took a deep breath to try and quash the turmoil of guilt. It made her sick to her stomach to have let down Sanderson, but feeling bad about her attraction to Holly also filled her with revulsion. She had already been through the stage of trying to hide how she felt and now that she had finally admitted everything, she didn't want to go back to that.

 _But he's right_ she thought; _you have let your feelings cloud your judgement._ Gail knew that the only reason she had come up with the running plan was to try and impress Holly, to put a smile on her face. She wouldn't have done that for anyone else. And look what had happened – they ended up here.

Sanderson was also right about another thing. When she had spoken to Holly earlier in the week, it had all seemed so simple. They weren't actually starting anything because they couldn't, but they were acknowledging how they felt. However, as soon as she explained it to Sanderson and he had poured cold water on things, she realised how idealistic that was. They couldn't have their cake and eat it too.

She sighed, and began to clear the plates from the table. She dumped them into the sink and turned the tap on, wishing she could wash away her own mess so easily. The problem was, when it came down to it she didn't want to pretend there was nothing between her and Holly. Pissing off Sanderson wasn't on her agenda either. It had felt good to have someone on her side for a change. She had no idea how to make it up to him whilst also staying close to Holly. She resolved that she would be more focused because her partner was right; both their careers lay in her hands now, and so did their friendship.

As Gail half-heartedly sloshed the dirty dishes around in the sink she let her mind wander from the harsh reality of their situation and remembered the time she had spent with Holly earlier that evening. She couldn't help smiling again. Sanderson's words may have dented the cosy bubble she and Holly had created, but nothing could burst it completely.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey all. Quick note from me to say thanks once more for to everyone who has taken time to send me your comments; particularly the likes of Interp86, JSkippy, Denise, Matik, Trusty9721, Saz and several others who have dropped me reviews numerous times and often really detailed stuff. I really enjoy reading your opinions.**

 **So, without further ado...time to crank things up a notch. Enjoy!**

 **Cheers, Sam**

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She knew she shouldn't be surprised about how wrong she was. Gail thought their cosy bubble was safe, but it shattered two days later when everything went to shit.

Overall the day had been pretty innocuous until Holly got called out to a body in an apartment building stairwell late in the afternoon. McNally had gone with her, still playing the role of dutiful liaison officer, shadowing her forensic colleagues. The scene had been a messy one and Holly's work had dragged on long past the usual seven pm changeover time. The body was on Fifteen's patch and Traci Nash had caught the call, so because Gail was still supposed to be undercover, she couldn't pick up the handover. Therefore poor Andy had to put in some overtime whilst Officer Peck twiddled her thumbs back at the safe house, and Chen sat waiting in his pool car, relying on the police cordon to help him keep the doctor safe.

Holly and Andy had finally arrived back home at around ten pm. Both women were exhausted. The brunette's sleep patterns had been horrendous over the weeks she had been under protection; partly due to the upheaval but mainly due to her desire to stay up a little longer than she usually would just so she could spend more time with her sardonic cop. It had all caught up with her and she was in bed within ten minutes of arriving home.

Andy had planned on going home, but was so tired she had accidentally left her bag in Jake's car. With her keys, phone and cash halfway to Jake's motel, she had given up and crashed in one of the spare rooms. Without any company, Gail and Scott had resorted to eating their way through three bags of cheese puffs and hustling each other at poker. Their shift was only an hour or two from being complete, with dawn just beginning to break and they were both stuck in a bit of an energy lull.

So it was a surprise when the computer system started to buzz like a demented bee hive, and the red light they had seen a few days ago started flashing once again.

"I thought you'd sorted out that useless set up?" Gail asked, when she clicked through to the map and saw it was the back fence sensor that had triggered once again.

"I did," Sanderson said as he leant over the blonde's shoulder to check what she was seeing. "I turned off the sensor near the fox run, and set up a new one in front. It's all hooked up to the system though, so it's my own one going off,"

Sanderson nudged Gail's hand off the mouse and flicked the screen to the camera in that area, "I adjusted the camera too," he muttered. "Blind spot should be covered…."

The image popped up onto the screen, and both officers sucked in a sharp breath in shock. They stepped back and unconsciously placed their hands on their weapons. The picture clearly showed a masked man stepping cautiously from the corner of the back yard, making his way out of shot and towards the house.

"Shit!" Sanderson exclaimed as they saw another guy follow the first. They wrenched their gaze from the screen and looked at one another, panic evident for a split second in both of their eyes before they switched over to professional mode.

"There's more of them, Sanderson. This is it," Gail said urgently as she watched the shadowy figures converge.

"Go wake Andy and the doc," Sanderson told her. "We need to get her somewhere safe,"

"Basement or attic?" Gail asked, trying to decide which of the reinforced rooms would be safer for Holly.

"We don't have much time. It'll have to be attic because I'm going to hold them down here. Go!" he answered, giving her a small shove.

She fumbled her phone out her pocket and speed dialled his number as she moved across the surveillance room. "So I can hear!" she told him over her shoulder.

As Sanderson hit the panic button, Gail barrelled out the room and sprinted up the stairs. She banged on Andy's door and yelled at her to wake up before pushing into Holly's room. Her shouts had already stirred the pathologist and Holly looked sleepily up at her.

"Come on Hols," trying to keep her voice normal. "Something's happening, you gotta get up,"

The doctor was slow to react though, "Hmmm? Gail?" she mumbled as she sat up.

"Get up, come with me," the police officer urged as she grabbed the set of clothes that had been cast aside on the chair in the corner of the room.

Even though she was still half asleep, Holly did what she was told and swung her legs out of bed, standing up and stretching her shoulders. Gail grabbed her hand and pulled her out the room, where they bumped into McNally on the landing.

"What's with the yelling? What's wrong?" the other cop asked. Gail was impressed that Andy seemed pretty alert and had clearly had the brains to grab her gun on her way out of the room.

"They're outside. They're attacking," the blonde told her.

Andy swore, but was instantly on the ball. "Attic?" she asked, and Gail nodded, tugging Holly along the landing towards the door at the end.

"I'll go back Scott up," Andy told her, turning the other way for the main staircase.

Gail felt a momentary pang of guilt; Sanderson was her partner, she should be the one backing him up. But her desire to get Holly somewhere safe was overriding her loyalty to her partner right in that moment. The heavy door at the bottom of the wooden staircase had been propped open for easy access, so as they entered she shoved it closed. She pulled the doctor up the narrow staircase and barged open the top door. They entered the attic and Gail snapped on the light before passing Holly the clothes she had picked up.

"Put these on," she instructed, and Holly dragged them on over her pyjamas.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking far more awake now but also very scared.

The cop pulled her phone back out of her pocket, setting it on a crate nearby. She slipped in her wireless earpiece, but all she could hear was the faint sound of Sanderson and Andy's murmured conversation. As she un-holstered her Glock, she indicated a cardboard box near the corner of the sloping room.

"Will you sit over there, away from the door please?" she asked. Holly did exactly that, so Gail continued. "One of the sensors went off, and we saw some guys approaching the house on the cameras. We're going to hide out here and Sanderson and McNally are going to stop them," She fought the flash of guilt again as she explained the situation.

Holly looked shocked, "On their own? Shouldn't we call McGregor?" she said.

"We hit the panic button. Police will be on their way, so we just need to sit tight for five minutes," Gail tried to reassure her, but the blonde's body language was tense as she stood close to the door, putting herself between Holly and the entry point to the attic. It had only been a minute or two since Gail had rushed out of the surveillance room; she had done well to get Holly up here so quickly but now all she could do was steel herself for the strike that must be coming. How the hell had the gangsters known where to find them? There was no chance they could have been followed here, they had been so careful. Gail's stomach rolled as she was left with only one other possible conclusion, but she shook it off. Now wasn't the time to address that.

As they waited, suddenly the lights went out. Shit. She had hoped the attackers would have taken a while to gather themselves, giving her police colleagues time to get here. She had guessed that was what Sanderson was waiting for too, rather than going outside to confront them. They must have cut the power to stop the security systems working, but little did they know they had already triggered one sensor. Now that the power was off though, the masked men could make their way anywhere around the exterior of the house without being seen, so the attack wasn't constrained to that one corner where they had been spotted.

It was only seconds after the power went down when there was an almighty crash from the rear of the building. It sounded like the kitchen window had been smashed in, which was more bad news. The doors of the house didn't look like much, but they were solid timber with reinforced panels and a multi-point locking system that would hold up to a significant amount of force. If their assailants had recognised that, then they must be professionals.

"Stop! Police!" they heard Sanderson's voice boom down the phone line, but he was immediately drowned out by a volley of gun shots. Gail couldn't distinguish much, but recognised that both Sanderson and the attackers had fired, as there was a handgun and what sounded like some sort of submachine gun involved. She fumbled towards her own phone, following the faint glow and desperately wishing she could go down there herself. As the reverberations from the shots died down, she heard Sanderson mutter to McNally, asking if she was okay. At least that meant they were both still standing. Gail reached the phone and flicked on the flashlight app, shining it towards Holly. In the glow, she saw her own horror mirrored back at her.

"Gail…" croaked the brunette, her voice full of fear.

"It's ok," she replied and moved to grip Holly's shoulder in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. "Have you got your phone, we need the light?"

Holly nodded and switched her own light on. "They've got guns. People live round here and they're firing guns," she mumbled, looking a little vacant.

"I know," the cop answered as she moved back towards the door of their attic room.

Suddenly another tremendous crash sounded, this time from the front of the house and they could hear running footsteps. There was an audible thump and the unmistakable sound of a scuffle before yet another shot was fired; this one sounding loudly through her earpiece which meant it had to be close to Sanderson. A barrage of shots came from the back of the house again, and Gail concluded their attackers were on both sides of the property. Sanderson and McNally must have split up; otherwise the guys from the front would be thundering up the stairs by now. All she could hear was muffled movements. How long had it been? The police should've been here by now but there were no converging sirens wailing through neighbourhood, piercing the quiet morning. She placed a hand on the door handle and turned back to Holly.

"I have to go and help. Shut and lock this after me, and no matter what happens, don't open it" she told her.

"No! Gail!" Holly instantly stood and the blonde felt torn in two. She couldn't leave the pathologist on her own, but she couldn't leave her team to face the mayhem downstairs either. As she hesitated, another gunshot rang out and she heard the scream of agony from Sanderson before another shot followed. Immediately afterwards, Andy yelled out his name and there were more gunshots at the back of the house. That was it, she had to go.

"I'm sorry!" she said, raising her shoulders in a helpless gesture at Holly, before wrenching the door open and disappearing down the narrow staircase. Gail couldn't hold her phone and gun properly at the same time, so she tucked the phone into her jeans and relied on her eyes to adjust to the gloom. Over the open line she could vaguely hear Andy talking quickly, but it was difficult to make anything out over the banging and thumping as well as the ringing of her ears after those gun shots. But just as she reached the bottom door she heard a much clearer sentence, as if someone had lifted the phone directly to their mouth; "Gail! We're coming upstairs! Come cover us!"

It was Andy's voice, and thankfully she sounded clear and strong. But the fact she was using Sanderson's phone was a bad sign. Gail slowly opened the heavy door and kicked the door stop back in place so she could get back in quickly. Holding her weapon close to her body and pointing it downwards, she crept towards the stairs, looking over the bannisters. She could see relatively well now, the dawn casting some light into the house. Another rattle of gunfire meant she had no hope of hearing anything, but she could see a figure staggering upwards. For a split second she began to raise her gun before her brain caught up and she recognised Sanderson's fair hair and profile. She shifted to her right so she could cover the space behind him without putting him in her line of fire and silently urged him to move quicker. As he reached the top she pulled him around the corner, quickly running her eyes over him. The back and left shoulder of Sanderson's royal blue t-shirt were soaked almost black; it was blood and a lot of it. She sucked in a frightened breath and took in the look of pain etched across his face where his skin was pale and taut. "Bastard came through the front window and shot me in the back," he gasped.

She wrenched her eyes back to the stairs to check that nobody else was heading up and waved her hand behind her. "Get up there!" she hissed at him, indicating the attic steps. Sanderson hauled himself across the landing, but she needed to know one more thing before he left; "Where's McNally?"

"Covering the hallway so I could get up here. She said she'd give me two minutes," he answered and so she waved him away again.

 _Come on, McNally_ , she urged. _Get yourself up here before someone else does._ The blonde was seconds away from descending the stairs herself when she heard Andy yelling at the top of her voice and footsteps thundering through the hallway. Andy spun round onto the stairs and sprinted up them towards Gail, who probably would have found the fact McNally was only wearing a tiny pair of shorts and a hooded sweatshirt hilarious if it hadn't had been a life or death situation.

Just before she reached the top, a figure appeared from the living room and started upwards too, pointing his pistol at the cop's back. Gail didn't even have time to think about it as she squeezed off a shot and watched as he fell backwards and out of sight. As soon as Andy reached the landing, both women turned and took the attic stairs three at a time, Gail dragging the bottom door behind them, relying on the automatic locking system to fall into place and shouting for Holly to open the top one. They crashed through the door just as it opened, and burst into the attic which was now more than a little cramped.

Andy grabbed Gail in a fierce hug, which was so quick the blonde didn't have time to complain. When she was released she immediately dropped down to her knees next to Holly who was kneeling alongside a prone Sanderson, checking over his wound. His upper body was covered in blood and as the doctor tore his shirt open he gasped in pain.

"The bullet went straight through," Holly told him, shining the light from her phone at the wound as best she could. "But I can't see what it hit on the way. There's a lot of blood," Gail glanced at the ragged hole placed just below Sanderson's shoulder, and winced when Holly's fingers probed at it. Gail reached over to dig around in Sanderson's pocket and pulled out his phone, cutting off the call and adding more light to the situation.

"I need something to put pressure on this," Holly said, looking up with a worried frown.

Andy whipped off her hoodie and the doctor took it, pressing it tightly into the wound and seemingly ignoring Sanderson's yelp. "Hold this for me," she grabbed Gail's hand and pushed it against the cloth which was already starting to soak through. Holly carefully turned Sanderson to check the entry wound on his back.

"He needs to get to a hospital, and quickly," the brunette said in a low voice, glancing at the two cops.

"Where the hell are the police?" Gail asked, knowing they had pressed the panic button ten minutes ago. The system was high priority which meant that squad units should have been crawling all over the place five minutes ago.

"It can't be working," Sanderson chipped in, his voice strained.

"Shush Scott, keep still," Holly told him.

Gail made eye contact with her partner. Sanderson's assertion that the panic button hadn't worked and the look that passed between them told her that he had come to the same conclusion she had.

"It doesn't matter," she said firmly. "The house has just been shot up; the whole neighbourhood will have woken up and called it in," Sanderson screwed his face up at that and Gail knew why. With the amount of gunfire the neighbours would have heard, dispatch would send ETF as well as the local force. That could take longer.

They all froze as they heard doors slamming below them. "They're searching upstairs," Andy said as they waited for the rattle that would tell them their assailants were trying the door at the bottom of the staircase.

"They can't get up here…" Gail said, in a bid to reassure Holly more than Andy but the doctor was concentrating on her patient. She picked up Sanderson's good arm and placed her fingers against his pulse.

Two more gunshots startled the group, the bullets thudding into the door downstairs and sounding horribly close. "Because they can't blast those locks off," Gail continued her confident defiance, and it seemed she was correct, because there were no sounds of footsteps coming up the attic stairs.

Andy pulled the ammunition clip from her gun and checked it. "Nothing left," she said to Gail.

"I lost mine downstairs," Sanderson coughed, so Gail thumbed off her own clip one handed and tossed it to Andy. She watched the other woman take seven of the fourteen remaining rounds to load into her own gun, before she stepped over and reloaded the clip into Gail's weapon, giving her a grim nod of thanks. Andy took up a position near the door, ready to deal with anything that came their way.

"So all we need to do is wait it out up here," McNally said, out of the cloak of darkness near the door.

"Unless they smoke us out…" suggested Sanderson, trying to smile.

"Scott, seriously, shut up," Holly ordered, still trying to measure his pulse. It had been a while since she had to do this, considering most of her patients didn't have one. Even at med school, it was rare to do it manually.

To her annoyance, Sanderson ignored her and turned his head towards Gail, shifting his bad shoulder and causing another gush of warm blood to soak into the makeshift dressing.

"You can't wait, you know that right?" he told her and she had to lean closer to hear him.

The blonde hesitated, not knowing what to say.

"You can't hang around for the cops," he insisted again. "Gail, this is a safe house and we're getting shot at,"

"I know," she replied.

"But you know what that means?"

"Scott. I know," she said, meeting his gaze and nodding so he could clearly see she meant it.

"Don't," he replied with a frown and a shake of the head, grimacing as another sharp pain hit him.

"What?" Gail asked, flexing her arm as she refolded another piece of McNally's ruined sweater into the pad she had created.

"Don't call me Scott. You never call me that; you always call me Sanderson,"

She rolled her eyes, "The blood loss has made you think too hard," she grunted, but he just looked at her. "Don't read anything into it. It was just because the doc was calling you Scott, it got into my head," she lied. Gail knew exactly why she had called him Scott, and it seemed he had noticed it too. It was because she could see the amount of blood he had lost, feel his clammy, ashen skin, and hear his elevated breathing rate and the crack in his voice. She was terrified that she was watching the best partner she'd ever had slip away before her eyes. Calling him Scott felt more personal. It felt like a proper goodbye. Gail had to blink back the tear that threatened to fall from the corner of her eye.

"Take my car," he whispered, and began fumbling in his pocket with his good arm.

"Please keep still," Holly pleaded, holding his hand to still it, so instead the blonde reached over and fished a set of keys from his pocket.

"You can't keep it long. It's from the pool," he said, as he fought to keep his eyes open.

She nodded, and called over to Andy. "McNally. One of us has got to get the doc out of here," she stated.

Andy came closer. "What?" she asked. "We can just wait it out!"

"We can't," Gail replied with a shake of her head, silently pleading with McNally to trust her. A loud hammering came from downstairs, reminding them both of the urgency. It sounded like they were trying to beat the door in.

"They must know the police are on the way. They're going to have to leave or they'll be caught red handed," McNally said, staring at Gail and trying to read the look in her eyes. All she got was an obstinate shrug and so she caved. "I'm not exactly dressed for an escape bid," Andy said, indicating her shorts and tank top and her friend nodded in agreement. She knew she would have to be the one to go, but wanted to give Andy the option. Gail didn't want to leave Holly's side, but she was also baulking at leaving her partner bleeding on the floor of a dusty attic.

Holly interjected, "We can't leave him, Gail,"

The police officer placed her hand on Holly's where she was carefully checking Sanderson's left arm, making sure blood flow was still running through the limb.

"We have to," she said firmly.

"I'm a doctor; I can help him!" Holly argued.

"Andy has got it," Gail replied, and beckoned Andy over. McNally looked at her with wide eyes, not understanding why her fellow cop wanted to make a run for it. The police would be there soon, surely they could hold out until then? She didn't think they were truly in danger up here, but Peck was clearly worried enough to have decided the best way of protecting the doctor was to leave.

"This shouldn't be happening here, McNally. They shouldn't have been able to find us…" Gail stopped when she saw the dawning of understanding in Andy's eyes.

McNally nodded, then did what she was asked and knelt next to Gail, who shifted to give her enough space to take over holding their makeshift bandage. Andy placed her hands over the blonde's and started applying pressure, allowing the other woman to slip out.

"What happened? What are we up against?" Gail asked her colleague, wanting to know the facts before she went to face them.

Andy began her explanation without taking her eyes away from Sanderson. "I got downstairs and Scott was in the kitchen. We stationed ourselves behind the counter so we could cover the door. Bricks came through the window and one of them rolled straight through. Scott shot him, and they returned fire. They've all got Uzis, Gail…"

"I warned him first," Sanderson interjected, his voice now sounding even more dazed.

"Shhhhh, no talking," Holly scolded again, packing a dust sheet she had found under the wound at his back.

"I know you did," Andy reassured him. "We had it covered, nobody could get through the window without being taken out. But then the front window was smashed in too, they must have come from both angles. I stayed to cover the back, and Scott ran out to look…"

"Bumped into him in the hall! We struggled and his gun went off, then he got away from me. I followed him to the living room, and then boom in the back. Must have been two of them," Sanderson added in his part of the story, but the strain left him gasping for breath and Gail watched the beads of sweat gather on his upper lip.

"Shut up, Scott!" both Holly and Andy told him together this time.

"When I heard him yell, I ran out from my hiding spot and nearly got my head blown off," McNally continued, "I found him in the hallway in this state, so I knew we had to get out. I sent Scott upstairs and just kept firing blindly to keep them back. The rest you know,"

"How many of them are there?" Gail asked.

"Two through the front, and there were three or four out back. Two of them are definitely down though, as you pegged one on the stairs. We might have hit some of the others, but I can't be sure," Andy shook her head, disappointed the information she had wasn't clearer. It had just all happened so quickly.

"And they're all armed?"

"I think so. I saw the Uzis and I think I heard a couple of handguns in there too," Andy replied.

Gail nodded her understanding and stood up. It sounded like the gang had planned their attack well. If they hadn't tripped that wire early on, they could have gotten in the house without any warning, and it would have been a simple task to take out the police officers and get to Holly. She shuddered.

"We've got to get out of here, Nerd," Gail said and she pulled the brunette gently to her feet. Holly stood inches from her, her eyes searching Gail's face but the determination she saw there must have convinced her and she didn't ask any more questions this time.

"Try to pinch the sides of the wound together under there, Andy," she instructed. "I'm sorry Scott; it's going to hurt."

Holly supervised Andy's care of Sanderson whilst Gail moved to the far corner of the attic space, shifting the boxes she found stacked there. She found some more sheeting and tossed it to McNally to replace the ruined sweater, before pulling aside two plywood boards and revealing the space behind them.

"Come on, Doc. We're out of here," she said, pulling Holly over.

"How? Where do we go?" Holly asked dubiously as she shone her makeshift torch into the hole.

"It's a crawl space. It goes through the whole block of adjoining town houses so we can get out through one of the other units. McGregor showed us when we first moved here," Gail explained, and looked over to the other officers for confirmation.

Andy gave Holly a reassuring nod, "The house on the end is empty, it's only three doors over. You can climb down through there," she suggested.

Holly swallowed hard, but Gail's hand on the small of her back reminded her that she had already trusted these cops with her life.

"You first," the cop told her, thinking that any danger would likely come from behind them. "Just keep crawling, right through to the end," she instructed.

Holly gave the others a worried smile, and ducked down into the small space. It looked tight, as it ran right under the eaves and was a throwback to when the row had shared loft space. Although the supporting walls ran right up to the roof, the pitched style of the rooftops meant the builders had only used wooden supports at the end of the rafters and then left the space for maintenance purposes. When the police force had taken over the safe house, they had figured it could be a useful escape route so had done some work to inconspicuously remove the panels some of the neighbours had used to block off the gaps. Even though McGregor had told his team that most of the householders didn't even realise the space was there, Gail was worried that with all the commotion that the neighbours must have heard already that morning, any movement they heard above them would be terrifying. The last thing they needed was a resident with a hero complex coming up to investigate and finding the pair of them crawling through the dust.

Gail tried to ignore the fact that the hammering below had stopped, thinking it would be typical if they tried to make their escape at the exact moment the gangsters did. She stepped quickly over to where Sanderson lay, and bent down to squeeze his hand. "See you later, partner," she said, trying not to worry when he barely grunted in response. She nodded at McNally and handed over her phone to provide more light for Sanderson.

Without glancing back, Gail followed the pathologist through the tight space, moving as quickly as they dared. Holly had to stop repeatedly to move various boarding and items out of the way, making the crawl tiring, but they made it to the end of the row without too much trouble. As they took a few moments in the attic of the last townhouse to stretch, Gail gave Holly quick hug. "You're doing fantastic," she murmured in the brunette's ear.

Holly shook her head. "This feels a bit surreal," she admitted and the cop nodded her agreement. She was surprised at how calm Holly seemed, but she wasn't going to question it. Not whilst they were still in the middle of this nightmare. As they stood there, they heard a siren approach. Gail led them downstairs, not wanting to flee the neighbourhood whilst the cops and their attackers were out there.

They made their way cautiously down both levels of the empty house, which was covered in a thick layer of dust and full of abandoned renovation materials. Once they reached the hallway, Gail peered through the old sheets that hung in front of the windows. She could see no signs of the masked men. _Time to go_. She turned the deadbolt, but before she opened the door she turned to Holly.

"Up for another run?" she asked.

"Well the last one went so well, why not?" Holly answered, putting a brave face on over her fear.

The blonde smiled at her and squeezed her hand. "Out of here and turn right, then right again. Blue Ford Taurus," she said, directing Holly to where Sanderson had left the car when he drove them both to work that morning. Holly nodded her understanding and they both took a deep breath before Gail pulled the front door open. She poked her head out, scanning the street for any trouble but all seemed clear, although there were a lot of lights on. She suspected a lot of terrified neighbours were peeking out from behind their curtains and so they would be spotted, but there was nothing she could do about that. "Okay, let's go!"

It took all of twenty seconds to make it to the car Sanderson had borrowed from the pool, but it felt like the longest twenty seconds of Gail's life. She unlocked the car and dropped into the driver's seat with a sigh of relief, pulling away from the curb as soon as they were both settled.

As they drove away, Gail was pleased to notice two police cruisers travelling in the opposite direction passing them, knowing that either the men who had invaded the safe house would either have abandoned their attempt after the first siren or were about to be collared by the cops. The cars weren't from Fifteen though, so she hoped the officers recognised McNally or she would have a lot of fast talking to do when they found her with her fingers in a gun shot wound amidst a smashed up house.

Gail turned the car onto the main road and picked up speed. She aimed to get as far as way as she could in the first ten minutes, then come up with a decent plan after that.

"Can I ask questions now?" Holly's voice broke the silence in the car, and Gail glanced over at her. The other woman looked steady enough, but there was a tremor in her voice. The blonde knew the other woman would be in a daze; she didn't have a clue what was going on and would be desperate to find out. This wasn't a normal day at the office for Gail, let alone Holly.

"Yeah. Sorry. Thanks for not asking them earlier," she replied.

"I didn't think bombarding you would have helped. I trust you, Gail," Holly said simply, and this time there was no quake. The cop's gratitude was obvious, and she nodded at the brunette to continue.

"Where are we going?" the pathologist asked first, looking out of the windows in the morning light.

"I'm heading across the city so we can put some distance between us and them. Once we're somewhere quiet, we'll have to dump this car and think of something else," Gail answered.

"Why?"

"This is a pool car; Sanderson borrowed it from the police service. It has a tracker, and the details will be all over the system. They could find us pretty quickly if we stuck with it," the cop told her.

"Don't we want the police to find us?" Holly asked, confused.

"Not really, no. That's why we left before they got there," said Gail, as she made a turn.

Holly stared at Gail's profile, noting the set jaw and narrowed eyes. The cop was worried, and more than a little angry.

"Why did we leave the safe house, Gail?" she asked, knowing she was missing something. She was relieved when all three cops burst into the attic, thinking that they could just hole out up there until back up arrived. Gail telling her they had to leave had completely flummoxed her, but after the argument they'd had a couple of weeks ago, she wasn't going to ignore her protection officer's orders again – at least not when she was in her professional capacity.

Gail ignored the question initially, "Can you turn off your phone please? And take the battery out?" she asked. It had occurred to her that if the police could track the car, they could also track Holly's phone. Especially given that it had been modified by McGregor's tech people.

Holly frowned, but did what she was asked before going back to her unanswered question. "Why are we running away?"

"It was a safe house. They're called that for a reason; not many people know where they are and it's not easy to find out. But we got attacked there," Gail said.

"So what happened? Did we get followed there?"

"I don't think so, Holly," replied the blonde, in a serious tone. "I think someone sold us out,"

Holly gaped at that, suddenly putting the pieces together and realising what Sanderson and Gail's conversation in the attic had been about. "Who?" she asked.

"I don't know," Gail told her, before amending that slightly; "Yet."

"One of the team?" Holly wondered, running through them in her mind. She had known these people for over a month; they had become friends. Surely none of them would just coldly give her up her like that, put her life in danger for the sake of making a quick buck?

"Most likely. But maybe not," Gail suggested. "I don't know. And that means we can't trust anyone, Holly," she said, taking advantage of a red light to turn and look at the woman in the passenger seat.

Holly's shock was plain to see, though it was tinged with another emotion. Betrayal. Gail felt it too; the thought that one of her colleagues was crooked made her sick to the stomach. One of the reasons Gail loved being a police officer was that sense of loyalty…to the badge and to your fellow officers. She had been let down by that before of course, when she had taken the fall for not properly searching the prisoner who had pulled a gun in booking. Her fellow rookies had just let her do it and in the weeks that followed, she disconnected from them as a result. But this felt much worse. She could have been killed. Holly could have been killed. And they weren't safe now either. Gail felt a flicker of fury light within her, under the shock and disbelief. She was going to find out who had sold them out. And they were going to pay for it. The light turned green and the blonde took one last look at Holly's frightened brown eyes. First though, it was Holly that mattered. She had to get this woman somewhere safe, and keep her that way.

As the car pulled away, Holly asked the obvious question. "So what are we going to do?"

"We're going to drop off the grid and hide out until the trial," Gail declared, making it sound like it was easy. "No more protection detail, no more back up. But I will keep you safe, I promise," she said, steeling herself to be the only thing that stood between Holly and the maniacs from Kolarov's gang of thugs.

"I'm not even wearing shoes," the pathologist said, sounding somewhat dazed about the prospect of going on the run.

Gail took a quick look down at Holly's feet and realised she was indeed correct. She hadn't even noticed that earlier. "We'll have to stop at a mall or something," she mused.

"We're going to go shopping, then go on the run?" Holly asked, with a laugh that she cut off almost immediately.

"I know it sounds crazy,"

The brunette nodded. Yeah, it did. But she knew she would follow the police officer wherever she took her, no matter how crazy it seemed. "I trust you," she said, repeating her words from earlier.

Gail was glad about that, but she hoped that trust wasn't misplaced. She didn't even have a plan yet. It was all down to her. She hoped she wasn't going to screw this up; it was far too important. Holly was far too important. She checked the mirrors, making sure they weren't being followed. Time to start stepping up.

"There's a corrupt cop out there, Holly. Unless we can figure out who it is, you're not safe even under protective custody. It's just you and me now," Gail announced.

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 **A/N 2: Just a little info on the construction of the safe house attic. The idea for Gail & Holly's escape route comes from a property in London I visited with work a while back. This was an old Victorian terrace that had this exact same set up; you could crawl through the eaves of the loft and get into next door's loft (attic!). It freaked me out, but the surveyor I was with said it's suprisingly common! So, check your roof space people! Who knows if that annoying neighbour could be poking round your boxes of Christmas decs and long abandoned childhood toys!?**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I have been incredibly remiss lately about thanking my Beta, which there is really no excuse for. So this chapter is for Kravn, and comes with my utter appreciation and gratitude. Kravn has beta'd every chapter in this story since Chapter 11 and quite frankly has done a phenomenal job. When I say beta'd by the way, I actually mean checked, edited, improved, Un-Britished me, encouraged me, made great suggestions, stopped much of my comma obsession, been a sounding board…and even somehow passed me some magic new job good luck! Basically, pretty much everything except make the coffee – but we are in different countries, so that would be a little tricky. This story is so much better because of her input and she has been an absolute pleasure to work with. Any errors that are left are probably because I meddled with things after the edit, by the way. So, a massive thank you to Kravn…and do I promise to _try_ not to throw comma confetti around quite so much. There's only thirteen in this paragraph and I think only three of them are wrong! **

**Cheers,**

 **Sam**

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By the time they had made it across town, Gail at least had the bones of a plan. First up, she needed to get rid of Sanderson's pool car. Ideally she would want to dump it somewhere in their current vicinity which was a long way from the safe house. Then they could travel back in that direction in another vehicle before swapping again. That way they would be difficult to track even if the corrupt cop managed to follow their trail in the Taurus. Her idea was a very risky one but she supposed nothing ventured, nothing gained. The area they were in was part of her usual patrol at Fifteen, so she knew it well and if she did encounter any cops, she could probably talk her way out of it.

She turned off the road and parked in the middle of the car park, facing out to the green expanse of parkland in front of them. She figured there was no point in trying to conceal the car when it had a tracker that would give anyone its exact location. Nobody would know how they had fled the scene unless Sanderson or McNally told them, which would buy them some time. And that was assuming Sanderson would even be conscious enough to share the story. He wasn't in good shape when they wriggled out of the attic space earlier. _Don't go there_ , _Peck_ , she warned herself.

"Do you want to wait here, seeing that you don't have shoes?" she asked Holly.

"Where are you going?" Holly would rather march through the park in her socks if Gail was going to be out of sight for too long.

"I'll be in the car park, I'm not going anywhere," the blonde hastily clarified. "We need another car,"

Holly gave her a puzzled look. "How are we going to get…?" she began to ask, before she guessed the answer; "Wait, you're going to steal one?! You can't do that, Gail!" she said, shocked that the police officer would even think about it.

"I'm going to _borrow_ one!" Gail defended herself, "Not steal it!"

"It's not borrowing if you don't ask!" Holly argued.

"Look, we need to get rid of this car and we need to get far away from here. If my plan works, this will be completely untraceable," explained Gail.

"But what about the poor guy whose car goes missing?"

"I'll get it back to them! Jeez, what do you take me for?" Gail rolled her eyes.

"But you're a cop!"

"Exactly, so if the owner was here I could actually commandeer one. Legally!" she replied, not knowing whether that was true or not. Holly cocked her head in a sceptical manner and the blonde shrugged back at her. "Do you have a better idea?" she challenged.

"No," Holly had to admit.

"Come on then," Gail said, and hopped out of the Taurus. Holly caught up with her as Gail scoped out the parking lot, her feet already getting cold from the chill of the asphalt. "So how do we do this?" she whispered, huddling close to the cop. "Are you going to hotwire one?"

The cop stopped her inspection of the area to turn and stare at Holly. She arched one eyebrow. "You've watched too many movies, Stewart. Nobody actually hotwires a car these days!" she whispered back.

Holly shrugged. "How would I know?" she hissed.

"Why are we whispering?" Gail asked, ignoring the question. They both looked at one another and paused for a beat before the cop snapped out of it and pulled Holly over to the end of the row. The car park was surprisingly busy for seven thirty in the morning with approximately twenty vehicles scattered about. Gail directed Holly over to the front row of cars. "Check the doors. See if any are unlocked," she instructed.

"Who on earth would leave their car unlocked round here?" the brunette asked.

"Just try," Gail replied, already pulling at the handles of the cars on her side.

They quickly snaked their way through the lot. Gail was trying to keep an eye out for anyone approaching, so was slightly behind Holly. With only three cars left on her side, Holly suddenly gave a yelp of surprise as the door handle on a scruffy Toyota popped open. "Gail! Over here," she said, still trying to keep her voice down.

The other woman jogged over and placed her palm on the hood. It was still warm; the owner hadn't been gone long. Hopefully that meant they wouldn't be back soon either. "Great. Now look for the key," she said, pulling the sun visors down and checking the door pockets. _Surely not! Nobody was that careless_ , Holly thought. But Gail had already been right about unlocked cars so she clicked open the glove box and poked through it.

"How did you know one of them would be unlocked?" she asked, rifling through the contents.

"This is Fifteen's district; we've had a few reports of stolen cars from here. I've been sent patrolling round at stupid o'clock more times than I can count. There's a really popular running trail around this park. Apparently the joggers don't like carrying their keys with them so they leave it unlocked and hide the key, assuming that nobody will look," Gail said, her voice muffled as she ducked to search under the seats.

"Well that's not the best idea," Holly said, stirring the loose change and pens that had been carelessly dropped in the cup holder.

"It's stupid as fuck," Gail declared, ever the sympathetic one. "Ah! Bingo," she said, fishing the car keys out from under one of the floor mats in the back. She pulled out a women's hooded rain jacket and water bottle from the back seat too, inspecting them. After some deliberation she decided to keep the jacket; she had her leather one on but Holly was just in the sweater, shirt and jeans that she had worn yesterday. She had been hoping for some shoes, but clearly the owner of this car was happy to drive in her sneakers. Gail threw the jacket back on the rear seat and left the water on the ground outside the car.

"Don't want her to get dehydrated on her walk home," she muttered.

"You're all heart," Holly deadpanned, although she herself did feel more that a little guilty about this.

"Just jump in!" Gail told her. At that moment, a car rolled into view and so Holly quickly slid into the passenger seat, hunkering down below the level of the windows. The blonde had ducked down on the driver's side and was watching the newcomer in her mirrors, willing him to get lost. The man got out of his car and let a dog out of the back, a big collie which began bounding around his owner. Gail clenched her jaw; it would be just their luck if the owner of the Toyota came back now and found two women hiding in the front seat of their car. To make matters worse, the sun had completely risen and the car park was bathed in gentle morning light – there would be no hiding if they were caught.

Eventually the man strolled off down the footpath and both of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Holly clicked her seatbelt into place. She couldn't quite believe she was sitting there in a stolen car about to go on the run. _If you can't beat them, join them_ she told herself and she looked expectantly at Gail; "Drive it like you stole it, Peck!" she said.

The cop turned the key and gave a sad shake of her head. "You seriously need to lay off the action films, Lunchbox," she said, before spinning the car out of the lot and back out onto the road.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The early hour meant traffic was light but Gail drove slowly and carefully, not wanting to get caught in a stolen car due to a technicality. She figured that as the hood was still warm, they probably had nearly an hour before the runner returned since the complete loop round the trail was eight miles.

Both women had settled into a contemplative silence; the blonde going over her plan and desperately trying to plug the holes, while Holly was trying to process all that had happened this morning. The only sound was the purr of the car engine. The traffic built up around them as the commuter crowds hit the roads, and Gail started to get antsy about being caught with the car. After thirty minutes of driving however, she gave a sigh of relief when they reached their destination, driving the car straight into the underground car park at the Yorkdale Shopping Mall. This time she parked in a dark corner, knowing that as soon as the stolen vehicle report came in, the licence plate would be all over the airways.

As she turned the engine off, she looked over at Holly, concerned the other woman hadn't spoken during their ride. "Phase two," she said, trying to break the apprehensive atmosphere.

"You were serious about the shopping then?" Holly asked, not really knowing why she was surprised. She felt like she had completely lost track of what was going on, so was just blindly following the police officer.

Gail shrugged. It wasn't ideal, but Holly needed something to wear on her feet and there were a couple of other things they needed to do here. "Come on, this is a crime scene. We'd better move before Forensics show up," she tried to crack a joke, but Holly didn't smile back. They got out of the car and Gail left the keys hidden under the back seat, grabbing the stolen jacket for the brunette to put on.

It had only just turned eight A.M and the stores weren't open yet. "We'll get a coffee while we wait," the cop suggested.

"I think we need to clean up first," Holly said, as they stepped into the brightly lit mall. Gail finally took a moment to check herself out and immediately realised the pathologist was right. They looked a state. Both of them were covered in dust and grime from their crawl through the attic spaces. Worse than that, they both had dried blood on their hands and forearms from their attempts to help Sanderson. Gail's stomach turned and she felt her skin crawl with the need to get rid of the signs of what had happened. Sanderson had looked bad when they left. For all she knew, he might not make it - the blood covering her hands was an immediate reminder of that possibility. She nodded and without a word led Holly towards the bathrooms where they both spent some time trying to make themselves look presentable.

Thankfully their efforts seemed to work. When they walked through the mall in search of somewhere to kill some time, the only thing that drew some second glances from the small number of scattered early birds was Holly's bare feet. Gail bought them both a coffee and they sat in comfy chairs right by the huge glass windows at the front of the mall, the morning sun shining through and casting a pleasant warmth over them.

"Shouldn't we actually be hiding out if we're on the run?" Holly asked, wondering why Gail chose to sit in such an exposed place.

"The best place to hide is in plain sight," Gail told her, "Nobody would expect us to be sitting here, drinking coffee,"

"So why are we drinking coffee?"

Gail sat back in her high backed chair and crossed her legs. "Two reasons. First, I need to make a call, and this is a good place to do it,"

"Okay. Do you need my phone?" Holly asked, remembering that the police officer had left hers with Andy.

"No, we can't use yours now in case they trace it. I'm going to borrow one," Gail replied, looking around.

"Please tell me that this time 'borrow' actually means borrow?" the brunette said with a groan.

"I'm an opportunist thief Holly, not a career criminal," Gail said, rolling her eyes.

Holly eyed her from behind her glasses, not sure how Gail was so calm about this whole situation. She was starting to feel overwhelmed by everything; the adrenaline from their escape had long since gone and in its place was a nervousness foreboding from being under threat. Someone could be hunting them right now and they had no way of telling how close they were. And it was only made worse by not knowing what their next step was. She tried to distract herself by taking a sip of her coffee, but as she lifted it there was a tell-tale rattle as the mug wobbled on the surface of the saucer, despite her using both hands. "What's the second reason?" she asked, trying to hide her shaking hands.

Gail wasn't fooled however. She leant across the table and reached out to steady the cup; taking it from the brunette with her left hand and placing it back down. She left her right hand lightly grasping Holly's and she could feel the other woman trembling under her fingers.

"This," Gail said softly. "I thought you might need a minute,"

Holly gave a strangled laugh. "I might need an hour," she said.

"Look, I know this is a lot to take in…" the blonde started, and Holly tried again to laugh but it hitched in her throat. She shook her head, having no words to respond to that statement.

"You're doing great, Hols," continued Gail, not sure how to pull her back from the brink.

"This is crazy, Gail. We should just call the cops. You can explain what happened, and tell them that someone is taking bribes. They will help us figure it out, right?" the pathologist said, trying to convince herself as much as Gail.

Gail's chest constricted when she saw the fear written across Holly's face. She felt awful for dragging her through this but she knew there was no other way. This was the only way of making sure the other woman was safe. "We can't. We don't know who is involved or who we can trust," she said gently. "I'm sorry, but we have to run. Until we know what we're dealing with, we can't stay under police protection,"

"The police are meant to help", the brunette said, shaking her head.

"I know. I'm a police officer too, remember?" Gail replied, stung a little by that comment. If Holly didn't trust her then this was going to be even harder.

Holly apologised immediately though, stopping the spiky blonde from going too far down that negative path. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just…I…I'm about three minutes from falling apart," she admitted. A tear fell from the corner of her eye when she met Gail's gaze.

Gail got up and moved round the table, kneeling next to Holly. She wrapped her arms round the brunette. "Please don't. Just be strong for a couple more hours; I know you can do it. Just give me that and then you can freak out as much as you like. And I'll probably join you. We can just hold each other and be a hot mess for a bit,"

"I'm struggling. I just need you right now," Holly whispered into Gail's ear, holding her tight.

"I'm here. I'm sorry I've got to be such a cop but I am here. Later on I'll just be your girl, okay?" she promised.

Holly nodded, her face buried in the cop's shoulder. Despite being upset, she couldn't help notice how Gail referred to herself as 'her' girl. She liked how it sounded. She took a deep breath and pulled away. "Okay. I'm okay. Just…distract me or something," she told Gail, who gave her shoulders a final squeeze and kissed the top of her head as she stood.

"Right. I'm going to borrow this guy's phone. Can you keep him talking? I don't want him to hear my conversation but I bet he won't let me go too far away," Gail said, indicating the waiter who was scrubbing tables nearby. The guy was young, maybe late teens and she knew that prising a teenager from their phone was no easy task. However, she had caught him sneaking a couple of admiring glances at them, so was pretty convinced she could sweet talk him.

The brunette raised her eyebrows. "Keep him talking?"

"Yeah, just follow my lead. Flirt with him or something," Gail advised.

"Not exactly my usual target audience," Holly muttered, as her companion waved the guy over. This day was not improving.

Sure enough though, Gail's confidence was not misplaced and after ordering more coffee and only a brief hesitation, the guy agreed to lend her his phone for a quick call. Her story of trying to meet her little sister before her cheerleading class and losing her phone on the bus seemed a little far-fetched to Holly, but he bought it. The blonde scooted off to the side to make her call, leaving Holly to chat with the waiter.

The cop smirked as she heard Holly ask the guy if he liked hockey, thinking if that was her idea of flirting with guys then it was no wonder she was a lesbian. She punched in the number from memory and prayed the recipient would pick up. She couldn't carry out her plan otherwise.

Her heart was in her mouth as she listened to the dial tone but after a few rings there was an answer.

"Hello?" came the voice on the end of the line.

"Diaz! It's me," Gail said, relieved her roommate had picked up.

"Oh, hey Gail. Whose number is this?" Chris asked.

"It's belongs to a random, never mind that," Gail said quickly. She was glad Chris' innate curiosity meant he would pick up an unknown number, but she didn't have time to satisfy him with an answer. "Remember what you said to me a few weeks back? I'm calling it in, Chris. I need a favour or two,"

"What's wrong?" he instantly asked.

"No questions, remember?" Gail shot at him.

"Yeah, yeah. Are you okay though?"

Gail knew he wouldn't focus unless she reassured him. "I'm fine, I promise. But I need your help,"

"You got it. Anything," Chris said and Gail silently thanked him for turning to the matter at hand so quickly.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"At work. I'm at the station, just booked someone but I'm heading out again soon,"

"Okay, you need to drop everything. Sorry, but this is urgent,"

"Um yeah, I guess I can take a couple of hours off," he replied, a little uneasily.

"Can you go home and pack me a bag? I need clothes for at least a couple of weeks. Then I need you to bring it to me," Gail told him, deciding to start with the easy bit.

"What sort of clothes?" Chris asked, sounding puzzled.

"Everything Diaz! It's not difficult!" she said.

"Well I've never packed for a girl before," he defended himself.

"You're a big enough girl, Chris; it's virtually the same as packing for yourself. Just don't forget the bras,"

"You want me to go in your underwear drawer?"

"I don't care because I've got more important things to worry about. Look, I don't have much time here, can you just shut up and listen for a bit?" Gail pleaded.

"Okay, okay, tell me!"

"Taped to the back of my headboard is an envelope with some cash in it, you need to bring that too. And I know it's a lot to ask, but as much cash as you can spare yourself? You know I'll pay you back," she asked.

To his credit, Chris didn't baulk at that. "I can scrape some together, I guess,"

"And I need to borrow your car," Gail said, leaping in with that whilst he was being agreeable.

"Fine," he replied again, though he sounded more perturbed at that than the cash.

"I'll get it back to you as soon as I can. Can you get all that together and bring it to the Yorkdale mall? Drive your Jeep in the underground car park, and park as close to the exit as you can. If you leave the keys between the seats, I'll pick it up from there," she instructed.

"I'm not going to meet you?" Chris asked and Gail sensed he was unhappy with that.

"I can't, Chris. Trust me okay? No questions,"

There was a pause. "Fine. Anything else?"

Gail sucked in a breath. "Yeah. This is a big one. But I wouldn't ask unless I had to, alright? Check the system for a stolen vehicle report; blue Toyota Corolla," Gail reeled off the licence plate before continuing. "You'll find it in the far west corner of the parking lot. Can you get it back to the owner? But you can't tell anyone where you found it, okay? Better yet, if she's not called it in yet then ring her and say you've already found it!"

"Gail…." Chris' tone was now uncertain and Gail couldn't blame him. She knew this was a massive deal; she was basically telling Chris to put a false report in. Some might call it obstructing justice.

"I know, I know. But it's really important. Please, Chris. You have to keep this between us, you can't tell anyone I called. Nobody can know I was at Yorkdale. I hate to ask, but I have to," she implored him.

The long silence made Gail wonder if she had pushed Chris too far. He had been the one who had made her promise to call him if she needed something but this wasn't just a favour she was asking him. She was asking him to put his career on the line and she would never be able to repay him if he came through.

"Okay. I'll sort it out. I don't know how, but leave it with me," he promised.

"You'll think of something. Thanks, Diaz. I owe you big time,"

"Anytime, Gail," and she was reminded of the conversation which had prompted this call, when he had also brushed off her thanks.

"As soon as you can, okay?" she told him.

"I'll be there in ninety minutes,"

"And nobody can know. Not even Steve or Oliver. Seriously Chris, it could be really dangerous if you tell anyone about this," she pressed and he told her he understood.

"Be careful, please Gail?" he asked, and she promised she would before ending the call. Gail took a moment to thank her lucky stars Diaz had come through for her. He had said she could ring him with whatever she needed but she hadn't really believed he meant it. She had thought that when she tested him, he would turn away and it would be too much. But he'd taken on every single thing she'd asked him to do; and they weren't small requests. His car, some cash and even covering up for her and keeping her secrets. She would have been disappointed if Chris had said no, but she would have understood. But he'd stepped up to the plate and assured her he would sort it all.

The blonde strolled back to the table where the waiter was now watching her suspiciously and handed back his phone with a smile. "Thanks buddy, my baby sister will be really grateful you helped us out," she said.

"Hey, maybe you could introduce me when she gets here?" the guy asked, and Gail readily agreed before he virtually skipped off to get their refills.

"Who did you call?" Holly asked when the kid was out of sight.

"My friend Chris. He's a cop too. He's going to help us out with the wheels and bring us some stuff. And he's going to make sure the car goes back to its owner, before you ask," Gail told her.

Holly raised her eyebrows. It sounded like this Chris guy was going to jump into action, whoever he was. He and Gail must be pretty close, if he was willing to drop everything and help out on such short notice. Not to mention that the blonde clearly had absolute confidence in him, given her earlier speech about not being able to trust anyone. She couldn't help feeling a little bit jealous of this mystery guy that Gail had failed to mention before. "Sounds like he's a good friend?" she casually asked.

"Yeah, I guess he is. He made me promise to call if I ever needed help and it looks like he's going to come through for us," Gail said, still feeling indebted to Diaz.

"Well if he's close enough that you've memorised his phone number, he's probably close enough to come to the rescue of his damsel in distress," the pathologist replied, and Gail caught the hint of insinuation in her voice.

"Hey," she laughed. "It's nothing like that. I did date Chris for a while…" she tried to explain, but she saw Holly frown at that confession so hurriedly corrected herself; "but it wasn't really serious. We weren't right for each other and it was a long time ago. And besides, I am not interested whatsoever in him anymore,"

Holly nodded, knowing her jealously was ridiculous but not being able to help it.

"I know your phone number off by heart too," Gail offered, with a cheeky grin.

"Really?" the brunette asked, and the cop rattled off the number to prove her claim, leaving Holly rather impressed.

As the waiter bought them more coffee, Gail swiped a pen out of his back pocket and started scrawling on a napkin. She handed it over to Holly when she was done and the pathologist stared at the list she had made.

"Seriously, what are you, some sort of Rain Man?" she asked, realising it was a set of phone numbers.

Gail shrugged. "I'm good with phone numbers. When we were kids, if we were going on a long drive for a holiday or seeing relatives, my Mom would give Steve and I a few pages of the phone book. We had to memorise it and she would test us when we got there. Sucked if you got the 'S' section. Too many Smiths," she reflected.

Holly made a face, "That sounds like a fun family game," she said, not sure if the blonde was making it up.

"Peck Police Training started at an early age. My mother is delightfully pushy," Gail said, in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "Anyway, that's just in case," she continued, indicating the list. "You know, in case something happens to me and we get split up. You can trust those people; call them. Chris and Oliver work with me at the station. And Sanderson's number obviously. I'm sure he will be on his feet soon…" Gail's voice trailed off at the mention of her injured colleague. The atmosphere nosedived once more as both women remembered not only the danger of their situation, but the fact they didn't know what had happened to their friend.

Holly folded the napkin into quarters and tucked it safely into her back pocket, not knowing what to say. She felt an icy prickle run up the back of her neck and couldn't help looking around to see if someone was watching them.

"Have you got any cash on you?" Gail asked, changing the subject and breaking the disquiet.

The doctor dug through the pockets of her jeans and came up with a few notes. She also added ten dollars from the 'borrowed' jacket she was now wearing. "About sixty bucks," she said, after a quick count.

Gail nodded. She had just under a couple of hundred on her, after forcing Sanderson to pay up the past few weeks' worth of poker debts he had accrued earlier that night. She knew her emergency stash contained five hundred dollars so together with whatever Chris could come up with, at least they had a decent amount to work with.

"Okay," she said. "We'd better go buy something to put on your feet, before anyone notices the smell,"

Holly rolled her eyes at Gail's attempt at teasing, kind of thinking now wasn't the time for it. But when the blonde held out a hand to help her up and then didn't let go as they left the coffee house, she soon forgave her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A couple of hours later, they were thundering down the freeway in Chris' Jeep. Both women felt relief upon leaving the city; it was almost as if crossing the boundary was like escaping the eyes that were watching out for them. Holly's shoulders dropped as the tension she hadn't realised she was carrying abated somewhat and this time when she asked Gail where they were going, there wasn't the same note of panic in her voice.

"Oliver has a cabin; it's his midlife crisis or something. It's actually pretty nice though, now he's done all the work. I figured we could hide out there. I don't think anyone would link me to it," Gail explained.

"And Oliver is another of your friends from work, right?" Holly asked, trying to place the name. Considering Gail had mentioned that she wasn't close with her fellow cops at Fifteen and felt like a bit of an outsider, there appeared to be a lot of them that would come through for her in a crisis. Holly suspected they were far fonder of Gail than the blonde realised.

"Yeah. I suppose he's my friend, kind of. He's sort of my boss as well because he's a TO. I don't know…I like him because he's not annoying," Gail's account was a confused one and Holly laughed at the way the blonde furrowed her brow when she realised she wasn't making a lot of sense.

"He's your friend," she stated firmly.

"He's my Oliver," Gail clarified, as if that settled the matter.

Holly laughed softly. "Well it's nice that _your_ Oliver let us use his place," she said.

"Oh I haven't asked him! But it'll be fine," the cop said airily, waving her hand about in a dismissive fashion.

Not long after, they pulled up outside of Oliver's cabin and Gail killed the engine. They both sat there for a moment, looking up at the wooden structure. It looked rustic to say the least, the paint patchy in places and the deck appeared like it could do with a good scrub. Gail knew Oliver had put a lot of work into the interior though, and it was pretty cosy inside. However, she was definitely putting Holly on spider watch, just in case.

"Home sweet home," she murmured. "Ten days until the trial,"

"Is that how long we're staying?" Holly asked.

Gail thought about that. All of her thoughts and energy today had gone into getting them somewhere safe without being followed. Now that she had accomplished that, she had no idea what came next. They couldn't go back whilst the asshole who had tipped off Kolarov's people was still around, that was for sure. "Maybe," she said, "Or maybe we can figure out who sold us out and fix this before then," Gail was too tired to think about it right now but underneath her exhaustion there was still the flickering flame of anger and betrayal. She was determined to see someone go down for this, alongside Kolarov and Robak and all the thugs that were messing with Holly's life. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts, "Come on. Let's go check it out," she said, getting out of the Jeep.

Holy followed Gail's lead as she strolled around the side of the cabin, finding the wood pile at the back. The blonde yanked out a log from the very bottom left of the stack and turned it over, finding the hollowed out end. She fished a key out and waved it at Holly.

"Have you got some sort of hidden key radar?" Holly asked, with a raise of her eyebrows. That was the second time today Gail had conjured up a key from nowhere.

Gail smirked, thinking that would be pretty cool but alas the explanation was far more mundane; "No, you nerd. Oliver told me where it was,"

"I thought you hadn't asked him about staying?"

"I didn't," Gail said, and she sighed as she led Holly back round the building and climbed the four small steps to the deck that ran around the front of the cabin. "He told me after the Perik thing. I had some time off work and things…things weren't good. He thought I might like to come up here,"

Holly placed her hand on the small of Gail's back as the other woman fiddled with the door. Although Gail had told her the whole kidnapping story, she sensed the blonde was still reticent about bringing it up in conversation. Gail was frightened people would think she was weak if they knew how much it still affected her. "Did you come up?" she asked softly.

"Yeah. Couple of times," Gail popped the door open and turned to face Holly but avoided meeting her eyes.

"Wasn't it scary, out here in the middle of nowhere on your own?" Holly said, shuddering at the thought of it. She reached out her hands to touch Gail's arms, rubbing her palms up the sleeves of her jacket as if it could somehow warm her and take away that sadness.

"Terrifying," the blonde admitted with stark honesty. "But it was more terrifying to wake up at home, screaming in the middle of the night and have everyone crowding round trying to check up on me. It felt like I couldn't breathe. At least here I could yell and cry without being smothered,"

Holly couldn't hold back any longer; she pulled Gail into a tight hug, wrapping her arms right round her back and burying her hand in the hair at the base of her skull. "Do you still have nightmares?"

"Sometimes. When I'm stressed out, or upset," Gail confessed. She scoffed a little as the thought crossed her mind; "Tonight's probably going to be a lot of fun."

"It's okay. I'll be here," Holly told her without giving it a second thought. She pressed a kiss under Gail's ear before releasing her so that the blonde could lead her into the cabin. The knot that always settled deep in Gail's stomach whenever she thought of Perik was unravelling at Holly's casual acceptance about her nightmares. Gail hated the dreams. She had spent so long coming to terms with what had happened that in the daytime she was able to push the kidnapping out of her mind. But in the middle of the night, her weakness showed – she woke up in a cold sweat, tears on her face and shaking limbs and she was furiously embarrassed about it. She had expected Holly to be disappointed in how feeble she really was but the brunette had brushed it off like it was nothing. It felt like the pathologist had lifted a weight from her shoulders.

They stood in the middle of the living room and Holly took in the random knick-knacks that were scattered over the bookshelves and the mantelpiece above the stone fireplace. This was decidedly a man's place she thought as she strolled over to a model of a wooden ship and traced her fingers along the bow. But the cabin was cozy - there was a comfy looking sofa covered with plenty of blankets, a decent kitchenette and it was warm and dry. Most importantly, it was a long way away from masked men with guns and crooked cops. She finished her circuit of the room and stood in front of Gail who was watching her carefully.

"Not exactly a fairy tale," Gail said, with a shrug as she ran her own eyes critically over the space. She felt Holly's hands cup her cheeks and turned back to look deep into the brown eyes that were staring at her.

"No. Still kinda beautiful though," Holly said, with a half-smile and Gail knew she wasn't talking about the cabin. Holly's kiss was delicate and tender, yet sexy as hell and Gail couldn't help moaning softly into it. She gripped the lapel of the doctor's jacket with one hand and ran the other up underneath it, stroking her fingers up and down the base of the other woman's spine. Holly arched her back in response, pushing her hips against Gail and the blonde pushed back, the contact sending a swirl of desire coursing through her lower belly. The cop deepened the kiss, tilting her head so she could lavish attention on the brunette's upper lip and focusing on the humming sound deep in Holly's throat. The verbal reaction was music to her ears and she used her tongue to try and provoke it again. As they stumbled against the door frame however, they broke the kiss and both women paused for a second, looking at each other and breathing hard. The realisation that this wasn't the best time to be getting hot and heavy hit Gail and she gave a shy smile as she released her grip on the brunette.

Holly smiled back and traced her thumb over Gail's cheekbone, the rough texture of the half healed cut from last week, a contrast to the soft and smooth skin she otherwise found there.

"You get the suitcase from the car; I'll get the generator going," Gail said, and Holly nodded, letting the blonde slip out of her arms. She paused for a beat to collect herself and make sure her legs were going to support her when she moved, given the tremble she felt in them. It had only just occurred to her that they were completely on their own out here for the foreseeable future. No more sneaking around, keeping an ear open for Sanderson or the rest of the team and no more quick stolen kisses. Given the heated exchange they had just shared, the hardest part of all this might well be keeping her hands off Gail and not giving in to the impulse to rip her clothes off. She pushed the flood of imagery about that out of her mind and went to empty the Jeep.

By the time Holly had dragged the heavy suitcase to the cabin, Gail had finished with the generator and was able to help her with the luggage.

"In here," Gail said, nudging open a door with her foot and helping Holly heave the suitcase onto the double bed. "You can have this room," the blonde said. "Oliver hasn't gotten round to taking the bunk beds out of the other one yet,"

"No, Gail! I don't mind, you have this one," Holly immediately argued, blushing a little. She had assumed there would only be one bedroom, and she hadn't been too upset about that. But if they were going to be in separate rooms, then she didn't want Gail tucked away in the uncomfortable one.

"Hey, I have to keep an eye out anyway. I probably won't be doing much sleeping," the police officer waved her away and Holly frowned at that.

"Look, there's only you here now, Gail. You can't be 'on duty' like you were before, it's not possible," she pointed out.

"I can keep watch at night then grab a few hours' sleep in the daytime. It's no big deal," Gail said, obstinately. She knew the brunette was right but the thought of letting her guard down and leaving Holly unprotected whilst they slept felt completely alien to her. She hadn't really thought through the mechanics of their situation yet.

"If you're exhausted, you won't be able to do a proper job anyway," Holly pointed out. "In fact, you must be pretty tired now," she said, only just realising Gail had done a full night shift and then spent all morning leading their escape from the city.

Gail nodded. As soon as the pathologist mentioned it, she was acutely aware of her own exhaustion. But she couldn't rest right now as they had only just arrived. If someone did manage to track them, they wouldn't be far behind. "We'll sort it out later," she replied. Holly had the good sense to nod and leave it there.

Later that evening, Holly walked out onto the deck to find Gail leaning against the railing, looking out into the fading light. The blonde had spent most of the afternoon in the same position, after figuring out the location gave her a clear view of the main road all the way to their hideaway which would allow her to spot any approaching cars. She had also spent a couple of hours walking round the immediate area to get her bearings and check for any possible weak points in their defence while Holly trailed behind her, not wanting to stay in the cabin on her own. It was time for the police officer to stop though. Holly herself was feeling tired enough and she knew Gail must be dead on her feet. She couldn't be a cop all day and all night.

"Hey," she said, pointing at Gail's stiff posture "Cop stance."

Gail snorted at the reference to their night in the bar. "Right now I _am_ being a cop. Surely I'm allowed the stance?"

"Nope. It's time to stop," the brunette said, strolling over to stand next to Gail and handing her one of the beers she held in her hand.

The blonde took it without looking, and raised an eyebrow when she saw what it was. "Where did you get this?" she asked.

"I found half a case in the storeroom. I figured your Oliver wouldn't mind and I think we've earnt it," Holly told her.

Gail hesitated. She shouldn't really be drinking; what if something happened? Holly sensed the reluctance and clinked her own bottle against the other woman's. "Come on. You're off duty now, Officer Peck,"

"I need to keep focused," Gail demurred, although the thought of sitting down for a while and drinking a beer with Holly was very tempting.

"You can't keep watch all night," Holly pointed out.

"I know. That's what worries me,"

"Look, honey," Holly started and she tucked her arm round the blonde's waist. "I know you feel like you've still got to do your job and protect me, but it's only the two of us here. This is a partnership now…you can't be my bodyguard 24/7. We're just going to have to be very careful; like you were on the way here. Nobody knows where we are, Gail; we'll be fine tonight,"

Holly felt Gail relax against her a little and the cop moved her own arm from where it rested on the railing to drop it over Holly's shoulders.

"Are you calling me honey again?" she asked, with the quirk of a grin on her face.

"See, Hedgehog, you're so tired you're imagining things," Holly smiled back.

Gail rolled her eyes at the stupid nickname. "I know you're right. It's just…" and she trailed off, not knowing quite how to admit it.

"It's difficult to let go?" Holly finished her thought for her, and Gail nodded. That was exactly it. She felt like it was her job to protect the doctor and as soon as she dropped her guard she knew she would feel guilty that she wasn't doing that job properly. But she was also well aware that now that they were alone, she couldn't be on duty all the time.

"You've done your job today, Gail. You've done a really good job," Holly told her, and tightened her arm around the other woman's waist, squeezing her hip with her fingers.

Gail nodded and finally looked away from the road, "The light is going anyway," she said.

The brunette also nodded, "It'll be okay. And one beer won't completely destroy your ninja abilities! Trust me, I'm a doctor! Well unless you're a lightweight and can't hold your alcohol?" Holly had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she dangled her own bottle in front of the cop.

Frowning, Gail took a swig of the beer in her hand, "Gail Peck is not a lightweight," she announced. Holly was right. It was one drink; she could still drive and run and think and all of the other things she might need to do if something did happen. And if all her careful planning from earlier worked out, nothing _would_ happen anyway. They were safe here. The only possible weak point in the plan was Chris, who knew she was in his Jeep and that she had been at the mall. If anyone found that out, they could potentially trace their route through any CCTV cameras they had passed by. But that would be a long, difficult and mind numbing task that would take a lot of manpower and would still only give them the general direction Gail had taken. And anyway, she trusted Chris or she wouldn't have got him involved.

"I look forward to testing that theory with you one day," Holly stated. "But in the meantime, you just need to relax for a bit," and she tugged on Gail's side, pulling her over to one of the large wooden armchairs stood against the wall of the cabin. "Sit down," she instructed. The blonde did as she was told whilst Holly went back inside.

The doctor re-emerged with a couple of thick blankets to ward off the chill that was beginning to creep into the air as the sun went down. She threw one over Gail before she dropped down next to her and wriggled into the small space between the cop and the arm of the chair. She sported a grin as she draped the other blanket over both their upper bodies.

"Can't you get your own chair?" the blonde grumbled, but her actions showed she wasn't serious when she shifted over to make room for Holly. It was a tight fit with Holly partially on Gail's lap - her right leg was thrown over Gail's left - but when the pathologist snaked an arm round her shoulders and cuddled in, the last thing on Gail's mind was to complain. She balanced her beer on the large, flat arm of the chair and wrapped her arms round Holly.

"No," Holly happily replied. It had been another tough day; even worse than their catastrophic attempt at going for a run last weekend. But at least she was going to end it tucked up in Gail's arms and that was a very pleasant and unexpected bonus. _Had it really only been five days since she had cracked and kissed the blonde cop in her bedroom?_ It felt like an age had passed since then. And now they were hidden away at a cabin in the woods, just the two of them. If it wasn't for the awful situation that had prompted this, it would be perfect. She hadn't quite gotten her head around today's events and she was worried, despite her earlier reassurances to Gail. Nobody knew where they were; she was going to be a no-show at work and if something happened to Kate or her parents then nobody would be able to find her to tell her. If these guys couldn't get to Holly as she was no longer an easy target, would they put more effort into tracking Kate down? If there was an inside man, surely he or she could go into the system and figure out where her family was hiding?

"Are you okay?" Gail asked, concerned about the sudden stiffness she could feel in Holly's body.

"This corrupt cop? Will he be able to find out where my family are?" the doctor said, voicing her concerns.

Gail was quick to reassure her, "No. I doubt it. They're in the official Witness Protection Program; unless you work for them you can't get access to any records,"

"But they found out everything about me. What if they break into the system? Or what if they do work for Witness Protection?"

"It's not possible. Even their own officers can't see the details of cases that don't belong to them. And they don't keep information splashed all over the system; everything is on a 'need to know' basis and encrypted. We don't have some sort of massive Police Google where you can look up whatever you like," Gail told her, rubbing her hand across the brunette's leg to comfort her.

"Okay. You're sure, right?" Holly was unable to stop herself asking one more time.

"Yep. Besides, I think the traitor is closer to home," Gail said, darkly. Whilst keeping watch today she had thought long and hard about who could have sold them out and had come to the awful conclusion that it had to be someone on the team. Nobody else would have the exact knowledge they needed to get at Holly, particularly the specific location of the safe house and the information that dictated the way they had been attacked. Gail had turned it over and over in her mind, desperately wanting it not to be true but in the end, she couldn't see any other possibility.

"You really think so?" Holly asked, still finding it hard to believe one of the five people she had spent the last month with would exchange her life for a stack of cash, or even to hide something. Well, four people as she obviously wasn't counting Gail.

"I can't see how it could be an outsider," the cop replied with a shake of her head. She didn't want to believe it any more than Holly did.

Looking directly at Gail, the brunette's only response was to ask the million dollar question: "Who? Which one?"

The blonde sighed and rested her head on Holly's shoulder. That question had been swirling round her brain all day and she still didn't know the answer. She thought she had narrowed it down, but nothing was clear in her mind. Events were all jumbled and information was tangled in a blurry fog of thoughts and reactions. She knew it was the stress of the day and the effects of an adrenaline high. She needed time to think.

"I dunno," she answered, sounding downbeat. "I'll figure it out tomorrow. Right now I can barely figure out my own name,"

Holly kissed the top of her head, understanding exactly what Gail meant. They were both exhausted and only having a meal made up of some of the canned foods that were stored in the cupboard didn't help. Beans, Irish stew and pineapple wasn't the best combination. They were going to have to visit a store tomorrow which Gail was nervous about. "I know how you feel," Holly declared. "Tough day,"

She felt Gail nod against her, and heard the cop's muffled reply; "How are you doing?" she asked.

"Truthfully? I think I'm in shock," Holly told her as she felt the blonde's arms tighten around her.

"Yeah. This is not really how I expected this assignment to turn out," Gail agreed.

"What did you expect?" Holly asked, curiously. They had never actually discussed how Gail ended up on this job. The pathologist obviously knew she wasn't part of the team from Vancouver and was a patrol officer rather than a protection specialist but that was all she knew.

"I thought I would be babysitting some weirdo and be bored stupid with nothing to do," Gail scoffed at how wrong she had been.

"Hmmm. You certainly got more than you bargained for then," Holly said, raising her eyebrows and looking down at the cop from her slightly higher perch.

Gail met her gaze and watched the last hazy light from the sunset sparkle in those dark brown eyes. She felt the warmth of Holly's legs draped over hers under the blanket, and ran her left hand under her shirt and up her side. She felt the smooth skin of her stomach give way to harder ribcage and quickly redirected her hand back down before she moved into completely unchartered territory. Even though she didn't visibly react to Holly's reflexive jolt in response to her touch, she didn't miss it and she filed that information away for future use. "So much more," she murmured, not breaking eye contact with the brunette as she moved closer and met her lips in a deep and intense kiss.

They broke apart when they ran out of air and Gail searched Holly's face for any signs of the worry and stress she knew was present in both their minds. All she saw was a contented smile.

"Are you sure you're okay? I did promise you could freak out on me later," she reminded the other woman.

Holly shrugged. "I'm alright. I'm not going to freak out; I think you've already stopped that. And I know it's really not the thing to be focused on given the circumstances…but this?" Holly moved her hand back and forth between them, trying to indicate she was talking about the two of them. "This is nice,"

Gail nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. She was enjoying being wrapped up in blankets with Holly, curled around each other like they were on some sort of romantic getaway. She wouldn't have chosen the events that led them here but being enveloped in this contented bubble was a more than happy end to a truly dreadful day. Not to mention the excitement she was trying to temper down knowing that she was going to be alone here with Holly for a week or more. As soon as her mind strayed into what that could possibly lead to, she felt her heartbeat increase a little and she had to forcibly think of something else. Now was not the time to listen to her libido.

The two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence and stayed cocooned in the blankets, sipping their beer whilst they watched the last slivers of daylight fade away into black and listened to the sounds of nocturnal creatures rustling in the woods. It was a long time before either of them stirred and it was only when Holly felt Gail shiver against her that she realised it had grown quite cold despite being cuddled under the blankets.

"Do you want to go inside?" she asked.

"In a bit," Gail replied and Holly was ready to chide her again for trying to stay on watch. But when the blonde tucked her face into the crook of Holly's neck, the doctor sensed there was something else on her mind. She felt Gail inhale deeply against her skin and smiled at the intimacy of it.

Sure enough after a few more minutes, the police officer spoke up. "Holly?"

"Yes, honey?" she asked, prompting the other woman. The fact that Gail didn't comment on the endearment was another sign something was wrong. She felt Gail's lips mumble against her neck but couldn't make out the words. "I can't hear you, sorry," Holly told her and the blonde leant back a little although she still didn't lift her face to look at the pathologist.

"Will Sanderson be okay?" she asked, her voice wavering.

Holly's heart dropped. She bit her lip not knowing how to answer because the truth was going to hurt. She had been thinking about Scott ever since they left the safe house and it sounded like Gail was even more worried. Given the choice, Holly wouldn't have left him there. He had been badly injured and needed immediate medical attention. They didn't know how long the emergency teams would take to get there so as the only medical professional on site, she should have stayed.

"I don't know," she replied and she heard Gail gulp loudly. The guilt settled in the pit of her stomach; guilt about Sanderson and for Gail. She knew the blonde had become close to Scott; the two of them made a good team, always ribbing each other and bouncing ideas off one another. Holly would be left reeling if Scott didn't make but she knew Gail would be absolutely devastated. What made her feel worse was that she could have helped prevent it.

"I'm so sorry," the brunette said. "But I just don't know. He lost an awful lot of blood and I couldn't see properly to tell where it was coming from. I think he may have nicked an artery. I should have stayed, Gail, I should have helped him more,"

"It's not your fault. You didn't shoot him," Gail said, and this time she did raise her eyes and looked directly at the pathologist, her eyes glistening from unshed tears.

"I know, but…."

"No. It wasn't your fault. I made you leave; if anything, it's my fault if something happens to him," Gail's tears spilled out over her cheeks and she lifted her hand to her mouth, trying to hide the quiver in her lips. "Just like Jerry," she whispered.

Holly immediately gathered her closer and rubbed her palm across the blonde's back as she held her tightly. "It's not your fault either. You're right. Scott wanted me to leave too, remember? And he knew he was hurt. You did your job Gail, you kept me safe," she soothed.

Gail didn't answer, keeping her face hidden against the other woman's chest. She felt pathetic for letting Holly see her like this, especially with what the doctor had been through today. Holly was the one who was supposed to be breaking down, not her.

"Andy knew what to do. She was keeping the pressure on and I think those sheets you found were doing a better job than her sweater. There's nothing else we could have done there, not without proper light and supplies…" Holly tried desperately to reassure the distraught cop and in doing so realised there wasn't much else she could have done even if she had stayed. That didn't feel like much consolation of course, but it was true.

"Is he going to die?" Gail asked. "I'd rather know,"

This time, Holly answered straight away. "I honestly don't know, honey. There is a chance he might…" and at that, the blonde let out a noise that could be described as a sob so Holly quickly continued; "But there is a far bigger chance he'll be okay! The cops were on their way, they would have taken help straight to him. As long as the bleeding slowed, then I think he had time to get to the hospital and they would have fixed him up," Holly knew that wasn't the definite promise Gail wanted, nonetheless it was the best she could give. She couldn't tell her that Scott was going to be fine if there was a tiny chance he wouldn't be.

"He's my friend," Gail whispered.

"I know," replied Holly, and she kissed the top of the blonde's head. They sat together in the wooden armchair with the pathologist stroking Gail's hair long after she stopped crying. When she felt Gail's breathing slow down, she nudged her gently.

"Come on. Let's go inside," Holly said.

Gail sat back and nodded. She let Holly lead her inside the cabin, the other woman only letting go of hand once the door was shut behind them. "I'll get you some water," Holly told her, disappearing into the kitchen. When the brunette came back, she caught Gail yawning widely.

Passing her the glass, she smiled at the exhausted cop. "I think we're both ready for an early night," she suggested.

"I'm tired," Gail nodded. She had planned on staying up so she could keep an eye on things, but she was so weary.

"It's been a long day," Holly said, hovering at the other woman's side, not wanting to leave her standing there. She could see how drained Gail was, yet she was worried the blonde would try and stave off sleep if she left her hanging round in the living room and turned in for the night.

But Gail shook herself into action; "You go and use the bathroom first, I'll see if Chris managed to pack anything remotely resembling nightwear," she directed.

When Holly emerged from the bathroom, she found the blonde shoving a heavy chest of drawers up against the door. She put her shoulder into it and helped manoeuvre the furniture into place, quirking an eyebrow at Gail as she did so.

"Just in case," Gail shrugged. The cop grabbed the clothes she had picked out for Holly from where she had tossed them on the couch. "They should fit you okay," she said, handing them to the brunette.

"Thanks. It looks like your friend Chris did well with the packing?" Holly asked, glancing over the sleepwear.

"He didn't pack any socks," Gail answered, rolling her eyes. Yet another reason they would have to visit the store tomorrow.

Holly laughed. "It could have been worse," she said and the blonde had to concede that one. They smiled at one another, lost in the moment until Gail found she had to look away. This intensity they shared was like nothing she had felt before. It was exhilarating - but also scary.

"I'll just be…" she said trailing off but indicating the bathroom door before making her escape in that direction.

When she re-emerged ten minutes later, she expected to find Holly had gone to bed but instead the pathologist stood in the doorway to the master bedroom, propped up against the frame and looking pensive. She had taken off her glasses and somehow that made her seem younger and more vulnerable even.

"You okay?" Gail asked, wanting to make sure that the other woman wasn't going to have the panicked freak out that she had seemed on the edge of earlier in the day. After all, the doctor had just spent her evening reassuring her about Sanderson and holding her tight whilst she cried. She owed her one.

"Yeah…" Holly replied, her voice slow and uncertain.

Gail raised her eyebrows, as if to question that but when Holy didn't say anything else, all she could do was nod. "Okay. If you're sure. Goodnight then, I guess?" She hesitated a moment, feeling awkward but she made her mind up and quickly crossed the room to give the brunette a peck on the lips.

That peck soon turned into something deeper and when they did pull apart, Holly blurted it out; "Stay with me tonight? In here?"

Gail blinked in surprise. "Together?" she asked.

Strangely, the blonde's stupid question pushed away the nervousness that she had felt after spending all evening secretly debating whether or not she should ask Gail to share the room. "Yes, together!" she stated firmly and full of confidence. "I'm scared and you're upset. I don't think we should be alone,"

Gail was still reeling somewhat. She hadn't expected that at all, but she really wasn't averse to the idea. Actually, it filled her with a soothing warmth however she wasn't sure if it was the most sensible course of action. She took Holly's hand and shyly played with her fingers. "Should two people who aren't having a thing share a bed, really?" she queried.

Holly thought about that before replying; "Technically I think two people who _aren't_ having a thing could share a bed. But two people who are nearly having a thing maybe shouldn't. But so what?"

"Hmm. What about two people who were thinking of having a thing in future?" the cop asked with a frown.

Holly rolled her eyes, "Will you stop overthinking? I don't really care what we should be doing. I want you to sleep in here tonight, so I'm asking you to,"

"I want to," Gail insisted, yet the unspoken 'but' hung in the air between them

"Just to sleep. Nothing else," the brunette quickly clarified. She remembered Gail's analogy about running from emergency situations and now was really not a good time to send her skittish cat sprinting out the door.

"Yeah, I know," replied Gail, colouring a little with the knowledge that Holly had picked up on those particular nerves. "All that I meant is sharing a bed probably won't do much good for our agreement that we're not having a thing yet,"

"Gail, I think we're long past pretending that we're not having a thing," Holly announced.

The cop stared into those deep and compelling brown eyes and knew the other woman was right. She grasped Holly's hand more firmly and tugged her into the bedroom.

"Come on Lunchbox. Let's go to bed,"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **A/N 2: I cheated a bit, sorry. Oliver didn't get his cabin till season five. But hey, timelines on Rookie Blue were always a little screwy, right? I'm just following that lead.**


	19. Chapter 19

Hours later, the pale morning light filtering through the window blinds woke Gail but she lay still, somewhat disorientated by the unfamiliar surroundings. After their initial awkwardness last night, they had settled down in the soft double bed, whispering trivial conversation back and forth and sharing small chaste kisses. Eventually they had both succumbed to their exhaustion, falling asleep spooned together with Holly's arms wrapped tightly around the blonde cop. To her complete amazement, Gail hadn't suffered any of her usual nightmares and she couldn't help but wonder if that had anything to do with the beautiful woman sleeping beside her.

Despite the lack of nightmares however, Gail still hadn't slept well. Even though they had made it out of the city, she had been on edge and had stirred at every single noise. Therefore she woke up exhausted and with a foggy mind, slowly remembering the events that had brought them here. At some point during the night they had shifted apart but Gail's arm was now stretched out across the bed with her hand resting on Holly. She closed her eyes again and smoothed her palm over the sheet; her fingers exploring the contours of the warm flesh underneath. The brunette sighed and shifted slightly under her touch, making Gail freeze as she suddenly realised she was inadvertently stroking Holly's ass.

She whipped her hand back towards her own side of the bed and opened her eyes to check whether the other woman was also awake. To her relief she saw that the doctor was still sleeping. She wasn't exactly averse to feeling up Holly but she would rather that the object of her affections was awake whilst she did so. It was definitely less creepy that way, so she filed away the map of Holly's curves in the back of her mind for future reference.

She glanced at her watch and saw it was still fairly early considering the long and stressful day they had suffered yesterday, yet she knew she wouldn't be getting any more sleep. Gail rolled onto her side and studied Holly's face as she slept. The brunette looked far more peaceful than the cop felt, that was for sure. Although Gail had managed to get them away from the immediate danger, she genuinely had no idea what to do next. She had been worried all night that someone would have figured out where they were hiding and that they would wake to the sound of the door crashing in. It wasn't just the armed thugs she was concerned about either; she knew the police would also be on their trail. Sanderson could explain why she had taken Holly and ran if he was in a fit state to do so but would he take the risk, knowing that someone had betrayed them? It might be more sensible for him and McNally to keep quiet; just tell everyone that they all had made the decision to try and get Holly out of the house and they had no idea what happened next.

She sighed and swung herself out the bed. There was no point worrying about what McNally and Sanderson would say to the cops. She had more important things to consider; like keeping them safe and working out who was on the Kolarov payroll. Gail grabbed some clean clothes from the open suitcase on the floor and padded into the living room to get changed. She checked the door and windows out of habit but didn't move the chest of drawers that was barricading the door as she didn't want to wake Holly. They had already discovered last night that there wasn't much food in the cottage so breakfast was out, but she was thankful when she found some instant coffee at least. She put the kettle on and poked at the nasty, dry granules, grimacing as they crumbled under her finger. They really needed to go grocery shopping today. Canned food was one thing but Gail Peck could not live on crap coffee for longer than twenty four hours.

Just as the kettle boiled, Holly appeared from the bedroom.

"Hey," she said, smiling at the blonde.

"Good timing," Gail replied as she grabbed another mug for Holly. She spooned more coffee out and poured the hot water into both mugs, giving them a vigorous stir in the vain hope of dissolving all the granules.

Holly stretched her arms above her head and strolled over to take the coffee, giving Gail a quick kiss on the cheek as she did so.

"Thank you. Good morning," she said.

"Hmmm," Gail hummed as she sipped her drink, feeling the caffeine kick-start her tired body almost immediately.

"I woke up and you were gone. It's still early you know?" the brunette asked, warming her hands on the mug.

"Yeah. Didn't sleep too well," the cop answered and Holly nodded sympathetically, wrapping an arm round Gail's waist.

"I heard you tossing and turning," she admitted. "Are you okay?"

"Just worried," Gail shrugged. She didn't want to pass her stress on to Holly.

"Come sit with me," the doctor suggested as she tugged Gail over to the sofa with her, allowing the blonde to curl up into her side. "I know you're still worried about protecting me. But you've got to try and relax a bit too. It was nice falling asleep with you last night," she said.

Gail smiled despite her brooding and she nodded her agreement. They sat quietly for a beat or two, sipping their coffee before Holly tried again.

"Are you still edgy that someone might find us here?" the doctor asked, trying to break Gail's mood.

"Yeah, a little," the blonde admitted. "The police will be looking for us now as well,"

"Is that a bad thing?" Holly queried before quickly amending her statement. "I mean, I know we don't want the inside man finding out where are. But you have friends too…"

"I have colleagues," Gail corrected, ignoring the eye roll she received in response. "There are people I trust, sure. But I don't know who sold us out, so I don't know how to avoid them. I could tell the guys I work with, like Olly or Chris but what can they do to help? It's not their case and we can't go back to the protection guys," the police officer rubbed her eyes as she thought about that. Ideally she would try and get Holly out of the country to be with her parents and sister but she had no clue how to do that without going through Steve, who would insist on bringing Ross Stone in and then things would be wide open again.

"So we have to figure out who it is? Then we can report them and go back safely?"

"Something like that. I'm kind of fresh out of ideas, Hols; I'm not going to lie. Maybe I didn't think this through properly," the cop replied. She frowned at herself. _What sort of idiot rushes into this sort of situation without an exit plan?_ It had seemed so important yesterday to get Holly out of harm's way and away from the fucker who had snitched on them. But she now had no idea what to do, apart from holing up here and waiting things out.

"You had to think on your feet yesterday, under a hell of a lot of pressure," Holly reassured her. "And you got us out of there safely. We can figure out what comes next together,"

Gail smiled slightly and dropped her head onto the doctor's shoulder. It wasn't really a solution but she appreciated the fact that Holly had tried. They finished their coffee in comfortable silence, Holly using her free hand to comb through Gail's hair, trying to soothe the blonde's troubled mind.

Eventually she broke the silence; "So, what's the plan for today then?"

The police officer sat up straight. "I don't know about you but I'm starving. We need to stock up. But first I want to do a check of the area, make sure nobody is watching us or hanging around," she told her.

"Okay, let me get changed. I'll come with you," Holly said and tried to rise from the sofa.

Gail stopped her with a hand on her shoulder; "You should stay here. Just in case," she directed. The brunette frowned and opened her mouth to argue but Gail carried on talking, anticipating the opposition. "You promised me, remember? When it comes to my job, you agreed to listen to my judgement,"

Holly's mouth closed with a snap, knowing the blonde was right. She couldn't debate this without going back on her word, which was infuriating to say the least. "Just be careful then, okay? Please?" she implored.

"Promise," the blonde answered, getting up off the couch and offering her hand to haul Holly up. "Help me move the drawers?" she asked, moving towards the door and shoving at the furniture they had placed there last night. The pathologist did as she was asked and then unlocked the door. Gail put on her jacket and joined her near the entrance to the cabin. She pulled the brunette into a hug before releasing her.

"Lock the door after me. And don't let anybody in, no matter what they say," she instructed.

"Okay," Holly agreed affably, but the cop wasn't satisfied with that.

"I'm serious!" she said. "I'll knock three times when I come back and I'll give you the password. Then you'll know its fine to open the door,"

"I think that might be overkill," Holly said with a lift of her eyebrows, thinking Gail was joking. But when she looked more closely she couldn't help notice that Gail's jaw was firmly clenched. She had unconsciously straightened her posture and was standing stiff and poised, eyes boring through Holly as if she were a suspect under interrogation.

"You let Sanderson into the attic, even though I told you not to let anyone in!" Gail shot back and her shoulders tightened even more as she placed her hands on her belt and instinctively moved into full cop stance. The fact that Holly had opened the attic door for Sanderson despite Gail expressly telling her not to had been playing on her mind since yesterday and as soon as she saw the half smile on the doctor's face when she mentioned a password, she couldn't help bring it up. It was a prime example of her fear that the brunette wasn't taking her own security seriously enough at times. Cracking jokes when Gail was trying to give her instructions had only reinforced that worry and the blonde realised she was responding by slipping into her cop mode. She didn't want to have to directly order Holly around; she wasn't a member of the public who needed to be corralled into the correct course of action. Yet her safety was paramount and Gail was now solely responsible for delivering that. If she had to be a little harsh to guarantee her protection, then so be it. She really didn't want that to affect their burgeoning relationship but her feelings for Holly ran far too deep to risk her safety. The cop was more than willing to come across looking like a hard ass as long as it kept the brunette alive and safe.

"But I knew it was him!" Holly exclaimed. She had heard Scott's voice outside the door and it hadn't even crossed her mind not to open it.

"What if you opened the door and he had a gun against his head?"

The brunette frowned, not having contemplated that at the time. "Well," she said, but couldn't think of how to dispute that so left the sentence hanging.

Gail gave a satisfied nod, "Don't even let me in unless I give you the password," she stated.

The other woman blinked at the tone in Gail's voice. That wasn't just a request to be careful; that definitely sounded like a command and Holly couldn't help bristling slightly. She had no problem deferring to Gail's authority when it came to police and security matters, but she didn't like being ordered about like one of the rookie cops she would see scurrying about the lab doing the detectives bidding. "What _is_ the password then, you lunatic?" she asked, adding a touch of sass in to her own voice now.

The blonde had to think about that for a second. "The word from our first Scrabble game, remember?" She smiled, remembering that day and immediately feeling a lot more carefree now that Holly had agreed to follow her instructions to the letter.

"The one that isn't actually a word?"

"The perfectly good word that you unfairly banned!" Gail corrected her. Holly frowned and shook her head slightly in confusion. All of a sudden, Gail had slipped back into playful mood as if her previous bite hadn't even existed. It really was difficult to keep track of where the blonde was coming from.

"I don't think I'll ever forget that non-word," she told her seriously, not knowing how else to approach the change of tone.

"That's because you're very geekish," the cop laughed and she ducked to avoid the half-hearted swat aimed at her head before continuing; "I'll be thirty minutes, tops. But if I don't come back in an hour, call Oliver and tell him everything. You've still got those numbers I gave you yesterday, right?"

The pathologist nodded, so Gail dropped a quick kiss on her lips and slipped out the door.

"Stay safe!" Holly called after her before locking the door and heading back to the bedroom to pick out some of Gail's clothes to wear. She had expected there would be some awkwardness between the two of them this morning after falling asleep in each other's arms. Holly knew they were far too exhausted last night to think much about the ramifications of sleeping entwined in the same bed yet wasn't expecting Gail to be quite so cool about it in the morning. It had to have been a big step for her.

This morning when she felt Gail's hand caressing her backside, she had pretended to be asleep as she didn't know how to respond to the touch. As difficult as it was to not react, she was thankful that she didn't because Gail quickly scrambled out of bed. Holly assumed that the blonde was panicking and when she found her fretting in the kitchen, her heart plummeted, fearing the worst. Fortunately, it turned out that Gail was far more stressed about their current situation than the fact that they had cranked their relationship up another notch. _Not that we're having a relationship_ , Holly corrected herself quickly. She had to keep reminding herself of their agreement because she felt so confused about it all right now. They were getting closer and closer, yet they still had a wall between them.

Last night when she told Gail that they were way past pretending they weren't 'having a thing' the cop had barely reacted, let alone denied it. Now they were finally on their own…and they had spent much of that time kissing, cuddling and comforting one another. It _felt_ like a relationship…heck, she was even borrowing Gail's clothes which was a stereotype if ever there was one! Gail had been so sweet last night. She had behaved exactly like a girlfriend would. But earlier today the other woman had referred to their agreement about separating the personal and professional when telling her that she wanted Holly to stay in the cabin this morning. It had been a command, not a discussion. And those pointed remarks about Holly letting Sanderson enter the attic without question had been delivered in a short and sharp manner which was also so at odds with the caring girl who had cuddled Holly close all night.

The brunette sighed. She couldn't figure out where she stood, or what Gail wanted. There was nothing she could do about how things were developing between the two of them right now; all she could do was wait and see. Holly wasn't going to be coy though. She knew what she wanted. Her feelings for the sardonic blonde were getting deeper by the day. What had started out as an inappropriate crush had turned into genuine attraction and now? She wasn't afraid to admit it; she was falling for Gail and falling hard.

She may not have been scared to confess it to herself but there was no way that she was about to share that fact with Gail in such a direct manner. She knew it would be too much, too soon. She had been cautious throughout these past few weeks, believing that the other woman was confused about how she felt. Gail hadn't been with a woman before and was bound to be less confident than Holly. The pathologist didn't think she could stand it if the blonde suddenly backed off now so she was going to do whatever she could not to scare her off. For all her cockiness, Holly knew that Gail was insecure, especially about relationships. Those sorts of contradictions were one of the many things that drew her to the police officer. She had never met anyone who she found quite so fascinating and puzzling. And if there was one thing Holly loved, it was solving a mystery; it was why she had gone into her chosen career after all. Even though she had a feeling she could never truly solve the Gail Peck conundrum she couldn't wait to try. She grinned and shook her head. One thing was for sure; she wasn't going to figure Gail out in the twenty minutes before the blonde returned so she needed to stop daydreaming and put some clothes on. She resolved that she would listen to Gail and do whatever the blonde wanted when it came to her bodyguard duties. But that didn't mean she was fair game to be ordered about and Holly couldn't help but think they were going to have to talk about this soon.

By the time Gail did return, Holly was indeed washed and dressed and ready to answer the three knocks as promised. "Who's there?" she called.

"Gail Peck, Commander of the Universe, confirming all is safe and well and that the very geekish Holly Stewart can open the door!" came the reply.

Holly blinked at the ridiculous answer but the password was in there so she unlocked the door. "Commander of the Universe?" she asked as the cop marched on through.

"Yep. Which means I'm Steve's boss," Gail answered and the brunette decided not to bother asking what that was all about. She followed the blonde through into the kitchen area and watched her inspect her weapon, clicking back the slide to remove a bullet from the chamber and replacing it in the magazine. "You can put that away now," Holly said, the sight of the gun bringing the fear from yesterday flooding back.

"I'm just trying to help you out, you know – fulfilling your River Song fantasy," Gail joked, but she did put her firearm back in her under arm holster before taking the whole thing off and placing it carefully on the table top.

Holly giggled despite her unease because she couldn't deny that there was something hot about Gail wearing her holster so casually over her tight t-shirt. She exuded strength and confidence and because the top did nothing to hide her feminine curves, the combination was downright sexy. "You're such an ass," she told her, shaking her head and trying not to stare.

The cop grinned back and strolled over to where Holly was stood, grabbing her by the waist. "Hello sweetie," she drawled, lowering her voice as far as she could in an attempt to impersonate the Doctor Who character.

"Stop it! That's just creepy!" she squealed, wriggling out of the cop's grasp.

"But you like it, right? Am I recreating your dream woman?" Gail asked and tried to catch hold of the brunette again, but Holly seized her wrists with surprising strength and held her at bay.

"Right now, my only fantasy is finding you on my doorstep, wearing a sexy dress, holding a bunch of flowers and ready to pick me up and take me on a date," Holly breathed, before leaning in and kissing Gail soundly.

The blonde smiled into the kiss and when they broke apart she couldn't help ask; "You fantasise about me?"

Holly raised her eyebrows. Of course she did; frequently in fact and most of them starred a stark naked Gail writhing around underneath her. But she was trying to avoid those thoughts because she didn't want to put pressure on them by pushing the police officer into anything. It would be too easy to get caught up in the moment and fall into bed and she really didn't want Gail to rush into her first time. The pathologist knew that the blonde had never been with a woman before and she needed her to be absolutely certain; she didn't want there to be any regrets or hurt feelings. That applied to her own emotional state too…Holly didn't want to be an experiment. She knew deep down that Gail wasn't like that but she couldn't help the niggle in the back of her mind that told her there was still a tiny, miniscule chance the blonde was just curious. So the brunette tried to avoid the question by playing dumb. "It just would be nice to do something normal like go out for dinner, that's all,"

Gail nodded, her light blue eyes slightly darker than usual as she gazed into the other woman's deep brown orbs. She pulled her arms from Holly's grip and cupped the doctor's face with both hands, stepping in close once more and crashing her lips against Holly's. As the kiss deepened, she heard the brunette moan and she ran one hand straight down the front of Holly's chest, over her stomach and hooked her fingers into her belt loops to pull her hips closer. Gail nipped at the other woman's bottom lip before sliding her tongue past her open lips. Holly's fingers found their way under Gail's shirt and traced random circles across her back and ribs. Just before she could explore higher, the cop broke the kiss and they both stood there, catching their breath.

"Is that the only thing you fantasise about, Hols?" the blonde asked, her voice husky with desire.

"I think maybe one day you'll find out," was the pathologist's reply. They both stared at each other for a long moment before Holly forced herself to look away or else she would have ravished Gail there and then. She stepped back and blinked away that thought. "So, you said something about shopping?" she asked, trying to ease the sexual tension that thickened the air around them.

Gail swallowed her disappointment, knowing the brunette was doing the right thing. They couldn't let things get too far; now really wasn't the time. Besides, she couldn't pretend she wasn't nervous as hell about taking things further. But oh God, how she wanted to.

"Yeah. We need to get some food because this whole not eating thing is not an option for me. And probably visit a Canadian Tire. I gave Andy half my ammo," she told the other woman.

"And maybe some clothes for me? Holly suggested.

Gail swung round to face her, running her eyes down the brunette's body. Holly had borrowed a pair of jeans and a white cotton shirt, which looked far better against the doctor's tanned skin than it ever did against her own pale tones. "What's wrong with sharing my things?" she queried with a touch of acidity. "Not enough fleece for you, Holly? Not enough backpacks?"

Holly smirked at the cop's indignation and rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying, I'd maybe like some of my own stuff…" she began, but before she could finish her explanation, Gail was jumping in again.

"What is with you never buttoning up a shirt anyway?" she asked, pointing at the open buttons around Holly's neckline. So the shirt was probably a little bit more of a snug fit on the doctor than it was on Gail but there was surely no need to leave that many buttons undone? It was seriously distracting and it was certainly not helping Gail's efforts to cool off.

"I just like wearing them like this," Holly shrugged, looking down at herself and not seeing the problem.

"And you always roll the sleeves up too," the blonde grumbled, as she continued her inspection and paused on those forearms which were enough to make her want to shove Holly back against the wall and pick up where they had left off a couple of minutes ago.

Holly ran a finger under the rolled up cuff around her elbow and shrugged again. "I'm used to doing it at work, to keep them out the way," she explained, not really sure why Gail was picking on how she dressed until she saw the blonde bite her lip and look away. _Ah. That's why._ She enjoyed the rush of power she got from turning Gail on like that and couldn't help winding her up a little more. "I could take it off, if you like?" she asked, moving her hands to the first button which happened to be just over her cleavage.

"No!" Gail almost yelled, stopping her in her tracks. "I'm just saying. You seem to be fine wearing my things so I don't know why we need to go shopping, that's all. We need to save the cash we've got because we can't get any more,"

Holly took pity on the blonde and dropped her teasing. "I just wanted to stop somewhere that sells underwear because although I can deal with sharing your stuff, I do draw the line at that," she clarified.

However, that image really didn't help with the thoughts currently running through Gail's mind. _Was Holly saying that right now she wasn't wearing any…no. Don't go there, Peck!_ She abruptly turned away, grabbed her weapon and jacket from the table then marched through to the living room. "Shopping!" she shouted back to Holly. "Hurry up, nerd!" she added as she slipped out of the front door to wait on the deck in the cooler air.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Their shopping trip took the best part of the day as Gail insisted on driving at least an hour away from the cabin. She didn't want any locals remembering them and passing on information if someone did come snooping around. She was pretty sure that since nobody had showed up yet it meant all of her precautions had paid off and there was no way they were going to be traced easily. But that didn't mean someone couldn't follow them eventually; either the cops or Kolarov's people. And right now, both were equally dangerous.

After shopping, Gail had managed to fit in a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon, which did wonders for her exhausted state of mind. She was currently outside the front of the cabin once again, curled up in one of the armchairs and Holly was perched next to her reading a book she had found tucked away on one of the book shelves.

To an outsider, it may have looked like the cop was simply relaxing in the cool evening air but the brunette knew differently. As mercurial as Gail was, Holly felt like sometimes the blonde's moods called out to her like a siren. She didn't even have to look at Gail to know she was brooding. She could practically hear the cogs whirring around in that brain of hers and she could feel the worry emanating from her like a thick fog, wrapping its way round them both and drifting out into the surrounding woods. It was like she was tuned into Gail's radio signal; connected by some strange sort of static in which she could sense even the slightest change.

"You'll be stuck like that if the wind changes, you know?" she advised, glancing over at the blonde and noticing the furrow in her brow. As soon as she said it, the silly old wives tale invoked a clear image of her mother telling her the same thing when she was little and Holly suddenly missed her. She pushed away the thought, concentrating on pulling Gail out of her funk rather than settling into one of her own.

However, Gail had barely noticed that she had been spoken to, let alone heard the exact question. "Hmm?" she mumbled, feeling Holly's eyes upon her.

"I said you'll end up with that frown permanently if the wind changes," repeated the pathologist.

"I don't think that's scientifically possible, Dr. Stewart," the melancholic woman replied, so lost in thought that the jibe only carried a trace of her usual sarcasm.

"Well, there's always an exception that proves the rule. Are you staring at the road again?"

Gail shook her head and turned to face the other woman. "Nope," she answered honestly, "Just thinking,"

"What are you thinking about?" Holly asked, shutting her book with a snap in order to give the blonde her full attention.

Gail shrugged and sighed all in one motion. "Everything."

"That's a lot for one person to cover. Wanna share?"

The cop gazed over at Holly, the need to express her jumbled thoughts conflicting with the desire not to worry her. However, the open and frank way in which Holly returned her stare meant the first option won.

"Just everything. Who sold us out, what to do about it, are we okay here, how can I get you back safely and then when we do return, how do I find another job after I get fired?" Gail recited, ticking each item off with her fingers.

"What do you mean, fired?" the brunette asked, confused. It probably wasn't the thing to concentrate on out of that long list of problems but it was the only one that hadn't crossed her own mind during the day.

"I've broken every rule in the book, Holly. They will be out looking for us not just because they're going to be concerned about you, but because they will think I've gone rogue. I've gone underground with a witness, I left the crime scene…I left my partner bleeding out. I stole a car, I got Chris to lie for me, I haven't contacted anyone. Oh, let's not forget that I've shot two suspects in the last week. Fuck, I've started a relationship with the woman I was supposed to be protecting. Seriously Hols, my rap sheet is growing by the second," Gail's voice was matter of fact but Holly couldn't fail to notice the flicker in her eyes as she listed her misdemeanours. She was scared.

"They can't fire you, Gail," she said firmly, whilst her inner voice was screaming out that the other woman had used the word _relationship_. She shushed herself and tried to focus on Gail.

"'Course they can. They probably should!"

"But they'll have to let you explain all of that and once you do, they'll understand,"

The cop shook her head. "Just because you do something for the right reasons, doesn't mean they let you get away with whatever you like. They'll still say I went about things the wrong way,"

"I'll back you up. I'll tell them whatever you need me to tell them," Holly promised, "And Scott will support you too," she added.

"If he's even alive," Gail countered, flippantly.

Holly stared at her for a beat then abruptly got up and walked back inside. The blonde watched her go, her face expressionless until the door clicked shut and she screwed her eyes together and dropped her head into her hands. Okay, so she shouldn't have said that, but there was no point pretending. Sanderson could be dead, she could get fired and this whole situation was a complete mess. She was only saying it like it is. And if Holly couldn't deal with that, then fine.

Although…it was kind of her job to look after Holly and not freak her out by being her usual bitchy, cold self. And with that thought, her defiance collapsed as quickly as it had blown up. _Another screw up to add to the list, Peck._ She tried to summon up the courage to go and apologise but ten minutes later, she was still parked in her armchair when the brunette poked her head round the door.

"Are you coming in or what?" she asked, then disappeared again.

Gail frowned and scrambled up to follow her through the door. As soon as she entered the cabin, she stopped short in surprise. The fireplace was glowing and Holly was sitting on the couch, holding out a bag of cheese puffs and a beer.

"Someone paid attention in girl guides," the cop said, pointing at the crackling fire.

"Chemistry, actually. Sit down," Holly instructed, motioning Gail towards the other end of the couch and the blonde did as she was told.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that about Sanderson," Gail began, but the doctor interrupted.

"No, you shouldn't. I know you're stressed but you still believe that you have to pretend to be fine for me. So, I'm only going to tell you this once more. Like I said when we got here, we're in this _together_. You need to talk to me when you're upset. So eat your horrible snacks, drink your beer, burn stuff in the fire and chill out for a bit," and with that, she tossed the packet over and passed her the bottle.

Gail blinked in shock. That settled it: Holly was officially the perfect woman. "And I thought being involved with a woman was gonna be much harder than dating men," she mumbled. Luckily for her, Holly only half heard that and chose not to pursue it.

As the police officer ripped into the bag of cheese puffs, Holly quietly addressed the earlier statement. "Scott will be okay,"

"Okay," Gail agreed, through a mouthful of cheesy goodness. She wasn't sure whether the doctor was trying to convince her or herself but she would go with it.

"You can only deal with one thing at time, Gail,"

"I know,"

"So. Who is it? Who's the corrupt cop? Don't tell me you haven't been thinking about it," Holly asked.

Gail chewed through another mouthful before answering with a sigh, "All day long."

"We figure that out and we can sort this, right? So who is it?" she persisted.

"Argh. I don't know," the blonde said, drumming her fingernails on the side of her beer bottle in frustration. "I've run through all the possibilities and none of them fit." She stuffed another handful of Cheese Puffs into her mouth and tipped the packet back to finish off the dust in the bottom too.

Holly grimaced at both the eating habits on display and the lack of direction in the conversation. "Same for me. But talk me through it,"

The police officer sat up straight and flicked the empty foil packet into the fireplace, watching it burn and shrivel in the flames. She wiped her fingers on her jeans in a fairly unsuccessful attempt to get rid of the orange stains, before giving up and leaning across to grab Holly's hand instead. "Okay. There are five of us on the team," she said and she fiddled with the doctor's fingers until all five digits were raised. "For starters, now is probably a good time to tell you that it's definitely not me,"

Holly snorted at that as Gail folded down the brunette's thumb. "Good to know,"

Gail nodded seriously before continuing her thought trail. "It can't be McNally. She just wouldn't," she said and pushed down another finger.

"Are you sure?" the brunette asked and the other woman nodded fiercely. Gail was positive. Andy was just not the type. She may have seen the dark haired cop bend rules from time to time but she was too much of a Girl Guide to break the law. She could never be one of the bad guys; that moral code of hers just wouldn't let her. Unless it came to sleeping with your friend's ex of course but taking bribes was a huge step up from that.

She tapped the tip of the brunette's middle finger a couple of times. "Sanderson," she drawled, naming that digit. "He knew someone had sold us out. He worked it out when we were attacked,"

"That's what you guys were talking about in the attic," Holly remembered, thinking back to the cryptic conversation the two police officers had shared whilst she was trying to treat Scott's shoulder.

"Yep. And he got shot. Which I'm assuming wouldn't have happened if he was the inside man. So I'm saying it's not him either," Gail deduced, and she folded down that middle finger, leaving two remaining. She looked expectantly at the pathologist, wondering if she would argue. When Holly simply nodded, Gail was incredibly thankful. She desperately didn't want it to be Sanderson yet she knew that was dangerous because it skewed her thoughts. She had tried to be objective in discounting the younger officer, looking at the facts and finding the logic. She just couldn't see how it could be Sanderson; he was the one she had spent the most time with and none of his actions suggested any ulterior motive. And at the end of it, he had been badly injured – not to mention he had been the one to encourage them to escape from the attic. He had put his life on the line to protect Holly. So it couldn't be him. It was a huge relief that her conclusion wasn't just shaped from her own feelings about the lanky officer, but that the logic and facts led there too. She didn't think she could have dealt with being betrayed by the guy who wasn't only her partner but her friend too.

"Chen or McGregor then," Holly stated, wiggling her two remaining fingers back and forth and breaking into Gail's reflections.

"Chen or McGregor," she repeated. It was the conclusion she kept coming to throughout the day, no matter how she looked at it. But she hadn't found a way to separate the two and pinpoint the guilty party.

"Which one?" asked the brunette and it seemed she was pondering the question herself as well as asking Gail. "Neither of them were at the safe house that night," she offered.

The cop nodded in agreement. "Right. And I think if you had set that up, you would want to be well out of the way. But on the flip side, neither of them knew we were going to go for a run. That was only planned the night before and I didn't tell them. So they couldn't have passed that info on and arranged that attack,"

"True. And Jake helped get me out of the courthouse when that guy was watching me," Holly added.

"But McGregor was all over it afterwards. It would have been a pretty elaborate fake reaction if he had set the whole thing up. Same with the jogging; why would he move us to a safe house afterwards? It makes you harder to get at," Gail flopped backwards in frustration and Holly followed so they were both leaning against the back of the couch, staring into the crackling fire.

The doctor gave up on holding her hand up as a physical count of their options and dropped it onto Gail's leg as she shuffled closer to the blonde. "What's your gut telling you?" she asked, poking her gently in the side.

"I want it to be McGregor," she slowly replied. "But I know that's only because he's been on my case these past few weeks,"

"He's a decent guy," Holly said, feeling the need to defend the Sergeant. He may not have been the officer she got along best with…but he was the boss. He had to be the professional, detached one, the guy who would enforce the rules and quite frankly, keep everyone in line.

"So is Chen. Or so we thought. But somebody sold you out, so we're wrong about one of them," Gail countered.

"I know," agreed the brunette, as she absentmindedly drew patterns on Gail's thigh and contemplated the problem. "What I don't understand is, whoever it was must have had plenty of _other_ opportunities to let the gang get to me. Why do it when you guys were on shift?"

"To ease suspicion perhaps?" Gail offered.

"Yeah, sure. But that only made it even harder for Kolarov's people. Why not just let slip a location when they were on shift and put up a half-hearted defence? Then there would only really be one protection officer fighting back. They could have made it look realistic," Holly argued.

"Or even bumped off their partner so there would be no witnesses," Gail suggested darkly.

"It doesn't make sense," huffed the pathologist in frustration. She hated not being able to figure out a problem. This was like one of those tricky cases at work where all the possibilities seemed to be eliminated. Holly was well aware of the famous Sherlock Homes theory but it wasn't applicable in her job. There was no impossible, there was only evidence. And if the evidence she had in front of her didn't give her an answer, well that meant she didn't have all the evidence and there was more out there somewhere. But in this situation, she didn't have something physical to examine, to pull apart and to unravel. There was no black and white test to do; only murky grey areas to blunder through, half formed speculations, sketchy guesswork and so, so many if's, but's and maybe's. It was infuriating and she let her irritation show by growling out loud.

Gail laughed at her and threw an arm round her shoulders, pulling her in to her side. "You sound exactly like how I've felt all day!" she said.

"Well this detective stuff is hard work! It's all 'suppose this' and 'suppose that' and trying to get inside people's heads. I don't know how you do it," Holly replied and dropped her head onto the blonde's shoulder in defeat.

"I'm not a detective," the cop demurred.

"Yet," came Holly's reply. Gail had to grin at the matter of fact way she said it. It was nice to have someone with that level of faith in her, even though it was only because Holly clearly didn't know how much of a screw up Gail was when it came to her career.

They lapsed into silence once more, and watched the fire as it died down to embers. Gail got up to place another couple of logs in the grate then settled back with Holly curled up against her.

"Well who else is involved?" Holly suddenly asked, making the blonde jump slightly.

"What?"

"If it can't be one of the five of you, then who else is on this case?"

"There's loads of cops working the Kolarov case but we're the only team involved in your protection," Gail replied, thinking it through.

"But McGregor reports to someone right?" the doctor persisted. "Who is his boss?"

"I don't know," answered Gail, suddenly realising she didn't have a clue how things were set up outside of her immediate team.

"Someone has to be in charge overall. Who runs the case?" the brunette queried and Gail had to pause before she replied. There was a sense of unease gathering in the back of her mind.

"In Vancouver, there's a Guns and Gangs detective called Ross Stone. He's in charge of the Kolarov case," she said slowly.

Holly nodded. "And what about here in Toronto?"

"Detective Steve Peck. My brother."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **A/N: Oh oh. Steve, Steve, Steve.**

 **In other news, this chapter tips the story over 100,000 words. Scary stuff.**

 **And lastly, thanks to Kravn for _epically_ beta'ing this one!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Hey folks. Quick one from me just to say a big thank you to everyone who has sent me a review on the last couple of chapters. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I will try and respond individually, but to those of you who are anonymous guests/named but not signed in, please consider this your response! Thanks also to Kravn once again, for beta reading this chapter and helping me edit it.**

 **Hope you're all well and good. I have spent a fun week in Wales and a not so fun week at work lately. That's life balance I guess. But hold the front page, because now the Euros have started! 6 hours of football (that's soccer to you guys across the pond!) per day this weekend...turn on the TV and chuck me a beer or two. Yes!**

 **Anyway, on with the story. Plenty of questions. Is Steve the dodgy cop? Who else drinks milk direct from the bowl? Where's Gail got to? And whose bright idea was it to put buttons on shirts?**

 **Cheers,** **  
Sam**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Ridiculous though it seemed given the circumstances that they were in, the past couple of days had passed in a blur. Gail actually found the mundane routine of their day relaxing and had to physically rouse herself out of that mind set. She had expected that being tucked away in Oliver's cabin would feel claustrophobic; that the quiet and the solitude would press down on her and drive her crazy. But it had been the complete opposite. On a couple of occasions, she had to remind herself that this wasn't some kind of romantic getaway but they were actually in the middle of some serious shit.

It was difficult to do that however, when their time together was so easy. Gail had even started to sleep a little better, though she suspected that had something to do with being wrapped tightly up in Holly's arms every night. On their first night in the cabin she had been able to kid herself that they had only shared a bed to stave off their fear and worry but when Holly had tugged her by the hand towards the small double room on night two, she hadn't resisted at all. Of course, her lips had been firmly attached to Holly's neck at the time so she was more than a little distracted. She had eventually slowed down their heated make out session and had wondered at that point whether she should slip away and make up the bunk beds. But when she went to rise, Holly had smiled that lopsided grin of hers, whispered goodnight and rolled over, trapping Gail's arm under her. So the cop had stayed and the thought of where she would be sleeping from here on in never crossed her mind again.

Gail usually rose before the brunette in the morning and was keen to do a perimeter check before she allowed Holly outside. Even with her inspection done, she was still mindful of keeping a low profile so they stayed close to the cabin and spent their days reading, walking through the forest and down by the lake. And of course, they talked for hours on end, covering all sorts of random topics and getting to know each other better. Gail found it fascinating how she could listen to the pathologist and hang on to her every word. Usually she had very little patience for idle chit chat with people and she couldn't help throwing her usual sarcasm around. But even when she was teasing Holly, her jibes had none of the usual bite and she would quite happily let the brunette ramble on without even interjecting.

Holly was also finding it hard to reconcile the reality of their situation with the pleasure of spending her days with the blonde. It was all too easy to forget about her sister and parents, Scott's injury and the dangerous men hunting them down when she was curled up in front of the log fire with Gail. Being alone with Gail had showed her yet another facet of the spiky cop; the softer and somewhat melancholy side. They were having fun, of course they were. It was difficult not to have fun when you spent hours laughing and joking with someone all day. There hadn't been another repeat of the tension she experienced whenever Gail entered professional mode so her reservations about that had quietened significantly. But in the evenings Gail was always a little more pensive. The other woman was still sweet and thoughtful in this mood but it was all Holly could do not to wrap her arms around the blonde and show her exactly how she felt in a bid to lift that contemplative state.

The other thing that always reminded them both of their circumstances was how often the million dollar question came up. They would be casually chatting away about something inconsequential when suddenly one of them would throw it into the conversation; "Who's the corrupt cop?" And then they would spend ages tossing theories back and forth, but essentially going round the same old circles because they were really still none the wiser. They had quickly discounted Steve almost as soon as his name had come up, deciding that he just wouldn't have had the knowledge of the day to day workings of their team in order to organise the attacks they had suffered. Gail was still fully convinced it had to be one of their team and Holly had to concede she was more than likely correct. But which one was still a mystery; there wasn't one person who stood out as having the obvious opportunity and the necessary knowledge. The blonde was convinced they were missing something, and in her attempts to find that elusive clue, her theories were becoming more and more outlandish. Therefore Holly wasn't even surprised when the cop piped up with another one over breakfast that morning.

"Could Sanderson have faked it?" she queried, using her spoon to chase round the remaining bits of cereal that floated around the bottom of her bowl.

"Faked what?" Holly asked as she sliced the top from her second boiled egg and dunked her toast into the yolk.

Gail grimaced as the golden yellow liquid spilled over. She hated eggs. "The wound. Could he have set it up?" she clarified.

The doctor's answer was immediate and firm. "No," she said. "I saw it with my own eyes. I had my fingers in the hole…" she trailed off when she saw the blonde's face fall even further. _Probably best not to be too graphic_ , she chastised herself, peeved that she had upset Gail. Sanderson's condition was still a sore subject and the last thing she wanted to do was give Gail a vivid reminder of how bad the injury was, even if the other woman was questioning it for some reason.

"I don't mean faking the fact he was injured," the cop explained. "But could he have done it deliberately; got someone to put a bullet through him where it wouldn't be life threatening? You know, to deflect suspicion?"

Holly blinked in disbelief. "Gail, that would be a pretty extreme way of putting yourself out of the frame…"

"I know. But is it possible?" the cop persisted and so Holly cast her mind back to when she was treating Scott's shoulder in the dark attic. The light from the phones hadn't been great but she had managed to get a decent look at things. "No," she finally said again. "There was no tattooing around the entry wound and powder burn is a key indicator of a point blank shot. And that area would be too risky from distance; it's very close to the chest and neck. Miss your target by two inches and you kill someone,"

"But it's possible if you're a top marksman…" Gail countered.

"I guess. Though with that amount of blood loss, your life is in danger anyway. Why not go for something less dangerous, like the lower leg?"

"Because then you can't run on it,"

"I don't think he will be doing much running in the near future with that shoulder either," Holly told her. "Come on, seriously? You think Scott deliberately took a bullet just so we wouldn't work out he was the bad guy?"

Gail sighed. "No," she said eventually. "Of course not; you're right, it would be crazy. But he's the only one who knew we were going jogging. So it keeps coming back to him,"

"I know," the brunette agreed, having heard that reasoning a dozen times. "And yet he wasn't anywhere near the courthouse. And he was the first to react that night at the safe house. He bought us time and he told you to get me out of there," she gave the standard counter argument to Sanderson's potential guilt.

"So it's not Sanderson," Gail reasoned for around the twentieth time. She picked up her bowl and drank the last dregs of milk directly from it, ignoring Holly's raised eyebrow.

"I still think we need to look at Andy," the doctor offered, although she really couldn't see the kind hearted Toronto cop being involved in something so corrupt.

"It's not McNally,"

"But how can you be sure? You're starting to doubt Scott…" Holly didn't have to finish the sentence for her insinuation to be clear but still Gail shook her head firmly.

"It's different," the blonde stated. She couldn't really articulate why she was so certain that McNally wasn't on the take; she just knew it. It wasn't even a case of friendship clouding her judgement because the two of them weren't really friends any more. Yet despite all that had happened between them, she still knew Andy. She had worked with her for these past few years, they had been through the academy together and even before that, their paths had crossed. After all, Andy came from a family of cops too, albeit not as blue blooded as Gail's. Over the years, Andy had changed of course – who hadn't? She wasn't the naïve and idealistic rookie anymore. But her deep seated morality and desire to do good in this world wouldn't leave her. Gail knew that with the certainty that only came from seeing the best and worst of someone over a long period of time. She may have quickly become friends with Sanderson, spending far more time with him in these past weeks than she had with Andy in the previous six months but her gut told her he was a good guy. However, she didn't have that ingrained sense of who he was in the same way she did with the dark haired cop. And so as much as she liked her new partner, that was why she was far more inclined to question him than she would Andy McNally. The blonde knew how tenuous that argument was however and she hated to admit she was mainly going on gut feeling rather than solid reasoning.

"I know it's weird because McNally _isn't_ my friend. But she's family, you know? They're all family at Fifteen. It's like brothers and sisters and cousins – sometimes you don't like them very much. But you know who they are at the end of the day, whatever happens, because you have that connection. I can't explain how it works but I know what's at the heart of McNally. Not just her; Diaz, Epstein, Nash too. And I bet they feel the same about me. I can't do that with Sanderson yet." she sighed.

"I trust your judgement, obviously. I'm just not used to dealing in something other than facts and science," Holly replied. She could see what Gail was saying but it was quite unlike the blonde to refer to such intangible reasoning. "It's a very…emotional theory,"

Gail acknowledged that with a smile small and she tried to throw some logic at Holly in order to convince her. "McNally was at the safe house too. She could have been shot just as easily as Sanderson was. And she didn't know we were sneaking out for that run. Plus, I know Kolarov has background in Toronto, but he's Vancouver based now. Why would he have a Toronto cop on his books? Until now…until you…there would have been no need," she rationalised.

"I don't know," the brunette replied. "Maybe she's been on his payroll for years?"

Gail drummed her fingers across the laminated table top in agitation. "No. She wouldn't have. And even if she was, then this is one hell of a coincidence, right? Your sister getting mixed up in his Vancouver business, then you moving here. And he just happens to have a corrupt cop he can call on, who just happens to end up on your protection team? Even though she's not trained in witness security?"

Holly wrinkled her brow, thinking it through, but in the end she had to agree. "Yeah. You're right; it's unlikely,"

"I know I am," the blonde announced as she pushed her chair back and collected their breakfast dishes. She walked over to the sink and dumped everything in there. "So we're back to Chen or McGregor," she said, with a roll of her eyes. This was so frustrating.

The doctor swivelled in her chair to look at Gail. "Chen or McGregor," she repeated. "What I don't understand is that whoever it is, they definitely had plenty of opportunities to hurt me. Or kidnap me, if that's what Kolarov ordered,"

"I think judging by the fact they came to the safe house armed with Uzis shows they gave up on the kidnapping plan," the cop suggested, with a shiver at the thought of it. "They wanted to shut Kate up by shutting you up - permanently,"

"Either way, I've been on my own with both of them, several times. Why not wait for that moment, where they could have done anything? At one of the crime scenes I've been to lately, or even the batting cages. It seems strange to wait for a situation where neither one of them were there, when they wouldn't have any influence over what happens,"

Gail had to think that one over. "Deflecting suspicion again I guess. Or because they would have been caught, maybe? It's one thing taking bribes on the quiet but openly committing a crime is another thing," She turned the tap to fill the sink up, splashing water everywhere in her irritation. "I'm sick of rehashing all of this. It's driving me nuts, Lunchbox!"

As she got up to join Gail at the sink, the brunette sighed. "Maybe we're looking at this corrupt cop thing all wrong. It might not be someone who's been bought off. What if they're being threatened or coerced into it?" She stood behind the cop and rested her chin on her shoulder.

The cop leaned to one side so she could turn her head and stare incredulously at the other woman. "Who cares why they're doing it? It's still way out of line and it still puts you in danger,"

"I know, I know. I'm just saying. There might be mitigating circumstances," Holy tried to placate her by wrapping her arms round the blonde and kissing the back of her neck.

Gail considered that as rested her own hands over the top of Holly's, smoothing her fingers up the tanned forearms. She snorted derisively. There was no valid reason in the world for betraying Holly, the team and the police service. But if the pathologist wanted to believe there was some good in the scumbag who had sold them out, then she wasn't going to push the argument. "Well when we figure it out, you can ask him why he did it whilst I kick his ass," she offered.

"Deal," the doctor agreed, affably. "And here's another one - what do you say I sort out these dishes whilst you go out and do your bodyguard thing. Then we can maybe go for a walk down to the lake? Catch some sunshine?"

"Sounds like a plan, Doc!" Gail chirped, and she went to get her stuff. "See you in a bit. Don't forget the password," she said to Holly as she gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before she left the cabin.

Holly smiled and shook her head. She didn't have a clue what exactly Gail did on the perimeter checks that she insisted upon doing every morning before allowing Holly to leave the cabin. She also carried out random inspections during the day, exactly like she had when they were still at home. Whatever the routine consisted of, it seemed to calm her worries and so the doctor didn't ask questions, she simply waited the thirty minutes or so and listened out for the password on Gail's return.

That day however, she had time to do the dishes, clean the kitchen and get changed without any sign of Gail. She frowned when she glanced at the clock and realised the blonde had been gone forty minutes. She had never taken more than half an hour before, and usually it was even quicker than that. Holly pushed one of the net curtains aside and peered out across the deck but there was no indication Gail was anywhere nearby.

 _Its fine_ , she told herself. _She's probably just gone a bit further out and lost track of time._ Although Gail was a stickler when it came to things like this. If she said she was going to be thirty minutes, she would be thirty minutes. And she was always antsy about leaving Holly alone… _stop it!_ She mentally kicked herself and forced herself to move away from the window. She walked into the bedroom and tidied up the clothes that had somehow been strewn around the room. Considering they were supposed to sharing clothes, Holly had restricted herself to only wearing a couple of shirts whereas Gail seemed to have already worked her way through everything Chris had packed into the case.

She worked deliberately slowly so that it took a good ten minutes to clear up the mess. By that stage, she was really worried. She checked all the windows, but there was no movement outside. How long had Gail told her to leave it before ringing Oliver? She was pretty sure it was only supposed to be an hour…and that mark was fast approaching. As soon as she thought about making the call, she realised that her phone was still where she put it after breaking it apart - in the glovebox of Chris' Jeep. She crossed the room to look out the window and down at the car. Gail had always told her not to go outside when she wasn't there. What if something _had_ happened, and they were just waiting for her to unlock the door and go outside? On the other hand, Gail could be hurt and hanging around thinking about all this was only wasting valuable time. She drummed her fingers against the wooden window sill. "Come on Stewart, make your mind up!" she said out loud, trying to summon up some courage. She mentally played out what she would have to do; unlock the door, sprint across the deck, jump down the steps, over to the truck – shit, don't forget the keys – unlock door, grab phone from the passenger side, sprint back. Thirty seconds at most. She could do that, right? "Of course you can," she announced firmly and voicing it to the otherwise silent room made her feel better somehow.

Holly checked her watch. The hour was almost up and there was still no sign of Gail. She tried to swallow down her anxiety but it was impossible. If something had happened to the cop then she couldn't bear it. She had only just found this woman, and yet the thought of losing her chilled her to the bone. "Where are you Gail?" she asked, irrationally hoping the blonde would pop up out of nowhere to give her a sarcastic answer. She paced around the room, feeling herself get more and more worked up even as she did so. Her stomach twisted and she began to breathe a little quicker, fighting the panic that had crept up on her.

 _Fuck it_ , she thought. There were five minutes left, but Gail was never late. And she wasn't going to wait two more seconds if something was wrong. She raced into the bedroom to get the car keys, swiping away a frightened tear that threatened to fall from her eyes. As she strode towards the front door, she decided to check one last time and pulled the front curtain aside. The sight that greeted her nearly made her knees buckle and she grabbed the window frame to steady herself. Gail was jogging up the trail that led to their cabin, and she was fine; she was on her own, she was moving ok, she looked a little flushed but not hurt…Holly couldn't wait. She wrenched open the front door and met the blonde on the deck, crashing their bodies together and throwing her arms around her.

Considering her surprise at the intense greeting, Gail caught the brunette and returned the hug fiercely. "Hey," she said, trying to nudge Holly's face upwards from where she had buried it into Gail's shoulder. "It's okay, I'm here," she continued, trying to soothe the clearly upset woman who was clinging to her.

"You're late!" mumbled Holly into her jacket collar and Gail had to strain to hear her.

"I know, I'm sorry. There was a car parked up by the road, and I thought it might be someone after us…" she explained, rubbing her hands over Holly's back. Not for the first time she wished they both had a cell phone they could use to stay in touch when they were apart. Perhaps it was time to get a couple of burner phones, or even radios. She would have to check the money situation and see if they could afford it. She was wary of spending too much in case they had to run from here for some reason. At the moment, there was no point in having a method of contacting home because she still didn't know who she could trust. Yet if Holly was going to be this worried when they were apart, then that was reason enough. "I'm okay," she said again.

The doctor didn't loosen her grip however and Gail could feel rather than hear her softly crying against her shoulder. "Come on," she said, awkwardly walking Holly backwards towards the door without letting go of her.

As they stepped inside, Holly lifted her face a little to look directly at the cop. "I thought something had happened to you," she told her, the distress evident across her face.

Gail gave her a look that was full of guilt and sympathy. "I'm okay, I'm fine," she promised and she cupped Holly's face with her palm, using her thumb to wipe away the tear tracks.

The brunette released one arm from around Gail's back and fisted her fingers around the lapels of her leather jacket, tugging it hard. "You scared me. I was going to ring Oliver," she whispered.

"I'm sorry," Gail said again, lightly stroking the other woman's face, before threading her fingers into the hair at the back of her head and pulling Holly into her shoulder again. She rocked them side to side as she felt the pathologist begin to calm down. Eventually, Holly stepped back a little, but she didn't release her hold on Gail's jacket or shoulder.

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, Gail," she said, staring into those blue eyes.

"I'm okay," the blonde repeated. "Nothing happened, and nothing is going to happen. I'll always come back to you," she said and she met Holly's gaze steadily, trying to convey how serious she was about that vow. She had initially meant it to be just about when she was doing her perimeter checks, but as they stared into each other's eyes, both women realised there was more weight behind the words than originally intended. Far from being scared by that thought, Gail realised she meant it and she smiled tenderly at Holly.

Holly leaned closer and kissed her softly, before burying her face into Gail's neck once more. "Don't do that again," she instructed, kissing the soft skin she found at Gail's throat.

"I'll try not to," promised the cop as she carried on smoothing her hand over Holly's back. They remained wrapped together for a long time, Gail waiting patiently for the brunette to calm down after her panic. When she felt the other woman relax, she tried to pull back a little to shut the door that they had left wide open behind them but Holly held on tightly.

"Hey. Let me shut the door, and we can sit down, have a cup of coffee or something?" Gail suggested, not wanting to completely extricate herself from Holly if the other woman was still upset but also not knowing what to do to help.

"Nope. I'm staying here," Holly told her, burrowing her head further into Gail's shoulder.

"Okay. But at some point I'll get hungry, just to warn you," the blonde joked, with a shrug. As nice as it was to hold Holly like this, it probably wasn't practical to stay here forever.

"Yeah, well whilst we're being hunted by dangerous gang members and hiding out in a log cabin, I think I have the right to get a little clingy when my girlfriend goes missing," came the muffled reply and Gail immediately froze . It took Holly a little longer to realise what she had said but the way the cop stiffened in her arms gave her a clue. She lifted her head to see the shock written across Gail's face.

"Girlfriend?" Gail asked, her voice betraying her confusion and she disentangled herself from Holly and took a couple of small steps backwards.

 _Shit_ , thought the pathologist, knowing that she may have just prompted an episode of what Gail had described all those weeks ago in her weird cat analogy. She hadn't meant to blurt that out but she wasn't thinking straight after all that worrying earlier. It was something they probably should have spoken about before she had casually announced it, so she sought to remedy the situation.

"Sorry. I didn't mean…well no, I did, but we probably should talk about it first," she started, watching as Gail turned away and walked slowly to the front door. The cop shut the door but stood there facing it with her back to Holly so the brunette continued; "I know this was all supposed to be casual, because of your job and because of the mess we're in and I know we haven't known each other that long. But you know I like you Gail; _really_ like you. And when we got here I told you that we're past pretending this isn't happening…" Holly tailed off when Gail still didn't turn to face her. _You're making a mess of this, Stewart_ she berated herself. The blonde wasn't reacting at all as she tried to justify this. _She's freaking out, you idiot! Say something_! She tried to shush her internal voice and focus on actually talking out loud, deciding the best thing to do would be to change tactics and take it back.

"Okay. You're right. It's too soon, I'm sorry. Just forget it, Gail, it's okay. But just so we're clear, I'd like us to get there someday. I get that you're not there yet and that's fine. I do really like you though and I don't want to scare you off by saying that, but it's true. I'm…I'm falling for you Gail," she admitted, knowing she could say a lot more but stopped herself as the cop still had her back to her.

As Holly's statement reverberated around the cabin, Gail finally broke her silence.

"You're babbling, Lunchbox," she said softly, still facing the door. She traced her fingers over a knot in the wood, trying to process the storm of shock, excitement and nerves that coursed through her. _Holly was falling for her. Holly Stewart was falling for her!_ She wanted to yell it from the rooftops, but she could barely hear her own voice over the thunderous sound of her heart beating in her ears.

"I know. But you're not talking to me. You're not even looking at me," Holly replied, nervously.

"You called me your girlfriend," Gail stated, her even tone not reflecting the wonder she felt at that statement.

"I know," the brunette said again. "I'm sorry,"

The police officer shook her head and tapped the tip of her finger against the solid wooden door. "I don't think you should be sorry about that," she announced and smiled despite the fact Holly couldn't see her do so. Hearing Holly say that had completed blindsided her, she couldn't deny it. She had needed a couple of minutes to deal with it but the more she thought about it and replayed that sentence, the more she liked it. She silently repeated it over and over in her head; _Girlfriend. Holly's girlfriend._

She sensed rather than heard Holly slowly approaching her and then the brunette laid a gentle hand on the small of her back. "Gail? Please talk to me?" murmured the doctor, completely confused as to what was going through the other woman's head.

The blonde finally turned round and gave Holly a dazzling smile. She wanted to say something to ease the trepidation in the pathologist's eyes but couldn't find the words and settled for seizing her wrist and pulling her in tightly for a blistering kiss.

As they broke apart, Gail grinned again. "I think I might like being Holly Stewart's girlfriend," she declared.

Holly blinked in surprise, still lost somewhat in that kiss. Slowly she realised that Gail was okay with this. "Oh really?" she asked, smiling back at her and running her fingers down the outside of Gail's arms. She couldn't decide whether the fluttering in her chest was sheer relief at knowing the blonde wasn't freaking out, or nerves about the sudden serious turn their relationship had just taken.

The blonde shivered at her touch and nodded. "Yeah," she breathed, "She's hot," Before she knew it, she was pushed back against the door, banging the back of her head against the wood as Holly claimed her lips and pressed her body against the cop. Gail returned the kiss, curling one hand around the back of Holly's neck to keep her there. The brunette pushed the tip of her tongue past Gail's lips and explored the inside of her mouth, deepening their connection as she ran her hand down her girlfriend's sides and over her hips. The police officer moaned and tangled her fingers into Holly's hair. She could feel soft hands caressing her body and reactively arched her back when the pathologist's fingers made their way under her shirt and danced along her spine. She tore her mouth away and gasped for air, but the relief was short lived as Holly kissed her way down her exposed neck, crushing her torso against the blonde's. There was a fleeting thought that this probably wasn't a good idea, but that quickly flew straight out of her mind when the brunette bit down lightly on the junction of her neck and shoulder. As the heat spread through her body, Gail finally gave in to her building desire and pushed hard off the door, stumbling up against the doctor.

She kept a grip on Holly as she shoved her backwards towards the couch, tumbling together over the arm and landing on the cushions. The blonde chuckled slightly as the other woman grunted in surprise under her, but soon found herself otherwise occupied as she was pulled down for another scorching kiss. When the pathologist gripped Gail's ass and rolled her hips, the cop lost all control and started fumbling with the buttons on the brunette's shirt, desperately wanting to feel more skin against her own. Holly tore her girlfriend's jacket off and the blonde cast it over the back of the couch before returning her attention to those buttons but she scrabbled ineffectually, her fingers unable to push them through their holes. The doctor ran one hand inside Gail's t-shirt, all the way up her abdomen and onto her chest and the resulting jolt of arousal led the blonde to give up on the patient approach. She leant her weight on her left arm and used her other hand to forcibly yank the right side of Holly's shirt. The brunette gave a surprised yelp as she was nearly pulled off the couch and had to whip her hands back to catch herself. She stared up at Gail and stopped herself from giggling at the frustrated growl the police officer let out, knowing that it wouldn't be appreciated at this point in time.

"What the hell is wrong with the buttons on your damn shirt?" Gail yelled, sitting back on her heels, while straddling Holly and gesticulating at the offending item. "Why can't I get them open?"

The other woman paused for a beat, waiting for both of them to force their heavy breathing back under control. She looked down at her rumpled shirt, noticing the now misshapen neckline and immediately realised the problem. Gail had been fumbling at, and had finally pulled at the wrong side and Holly couldn't help grinning. "It's a woman's shirt, honey. The buttons are the opposite way round," she told her.

"What the fuck? Are you serious?" the blonde asked and Holly simply nodded, placing her hands on Gail's thighs. "Well why didn't you tell me that?"

"Um…I didn't think it was important?" she replied,

"Well neither did I. But I've never wanted to rip a shirt off a girl before, obviously!" the cop retorted.

"And you have with a man?" the brunette queried, wrinkling her nose at the thought of it.

"Yeah, and let me tell you, it's been a good move for me. It's usually a whole lot hotter than that cluster-fucking debacle," came the response.

Holly shrugged, "I thought it was all pretty hot until you tried to pull my head off," she said, rubbing at her neck where the collar had cut into her a little from the force Gail had used to try and tear off the garment.

The blonde was able to dampen her annoyance for a moment and placed her fingers gently on the small red mark. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"It's okay. I'll live," Holly replied.

"And here I was thinking I was going to have problem undoing your bra. I never even got that far!" Gail mused, her hands now on her hips as she took a couple of surreptitious deep breaths to conquer her raging libido. As her longing to launch herself back at Holly diminished, embarrassment settled in its place.

They both gazed at each other for a moment, before Holly could no longer contain herself and burst into laughter. The disappointed look on Gail's face was a picture and the comment about the bra finally tipped her over the edge. The cop frowned, thinking this was not really a laughing moment but eventually gave in to Holly's amusement and joined in the giggling. As they calmed down though, the embarrassment was still there.

"Way to kill the mood, Peck," she mumbled and swung herself off of Holly, settling down on the coffee table with her chin in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She couldn't meet the other woman's eyes. _How humiliating_ , she thought. She had been wrapped around the sexiest woman she had ever met and couldn't even undo a simple shirt button.

"Hey," said Holly, softly. "It probably wouldn't have been a good idea anyway, you know?"

Gail pulled a face as she contemplated that. All along she had been determined not to dive into anything too heavy with the pathologist; it had taken her long enough to admit how she felt. But the more time they spent alone together, the harder she was finding it to keep her hands off the other woman. Their kisses were becoming more heated, hands were growing bolder and she felt permanently charged with sexual energy. Just a few short minutes ago, she was so caught up in the moment that if she had been able to undo those damn buttons, she was pretty sure she would have dragged Holly straight to bed. They would've been way past the point of having _this_ conversation even after Holly's girlfriend declaration mere moments ago. Not that Gail was any stranger to rushing things; in fact in the past, she had been a first date kind of girl on more than one occasion. But it was different with Holly…she really didn't want to screw this up, and rushing into things usually meant she screwed it up.

Gail sighed. That ship may well have sailed the moment she got all awkward and clumsy and made a mess of it. Clearly Holly was having second thoughts, that much was obvious from what she had just said. So the blonde simply nodded; "Yeah. Probably not," she agreed but wasn't able to hide the disappointment in her face.

Quick as a flash, Holly noticed her discomfort and reached out to put a hand on the cop's thigh. "It's not that I don't want to!" she clarified, "I just don't want to rush you, that's all. We haven't really known each other all that long,"

"I have had sex before, Holly! I'm not some inexperienced teenager," Gail snorted, slightly irritated by that statement.

"I know," the brunette hurriedly replied. "But this is different for you, right?"

"I'm not nervous because you're a woman, if that's what you're thinking,"

"But you are nervous?" Holly shot back intuitively knowing that Gail was hiding behind her bluster.

The police officer wanted to deny it but she knew she couldn't. What she had said was the truth; Gail was usually nothing if not confident in the bedroom department. The thought of sleeping with Holly did make her anxious though - not because she was a woman but because she was Holly. She didn't want to mess up the good thing they had going, first and foremost. But if she was really honest with herself there was a teeny, tiny element of nerves too…

"I want it to be good," she blurted, feeling her cheeks flush red the moment she said it. "I want it to be good, but I might not know what I'm doing and then it won't be. I can't even get your clothes off without making an idiot of myself,"

The doctor plucked at the material of the shirt she was wearing. "You do realise this is yours? You would have ruined your own shirt," she said.

"Oh fantastic," Gail muttered. "This is getting better and better,"

"I'm teasing you, Gail. Don't worry about it, honestly," Holly reassured her, but the blonde was looking away again.

"I was trying to be sexy," she mumbled under her breath.

Holly smiled softly, and rubbed her hand up and down Gail's thigh. "You are sexy. But you should stop worrying about trying to be sexy and just roll with it. Because it will be good," she assured the other woman.

"How do you know?" Gail asked and the pathologist shrugged.

"Because making out with you just now made my head spin and my toes curl. And I really want you. So when it happens, it's going to be good, don't worry about that," she replied. And with that statement, she winked at Gail and stood up, aiming to break the tension and ease the blonde's awkwardness.

But the cop stood too, catching hold of Holly's hand before she could move away.

"Just so you know, I really want you too," she said, staring directly into those dark, dark eyes. They both paused for a beat, lost in the desire they saw there before the brunette pressed a soft kiss against Gail's lips.

"That's good…kind of important, as you're my girlfriend," she replied, and they both grinned at the sound of that.

"Yeah. I am," Gail murmured back.


	21. Chapter 21

"I told you," Holly announced; looking exceptionally pleased with herself. She was sitting at the small table, sipping her morning tea and watching Gail clatter round the kitchenette.

"Told me what?" asked the cop, as she inspected a frying pan.

"I told you that one day you'd cook for me. That night we watched Iron Man, remember?" the brunette clarified, her wide grin only intensifying when Gail frowned at her. She did remember that night…mainly because it was one of the first times she had wanted to kiss Holly, when the other woman leant over her on the bed.

"It's just a bacon sandwich, Lunchbox, I'd hardly consider it cooking," she grumbled.

"It still counts!" Holly argued.

"Whatever," Gail replied, turning the heat on. "Anyway, I think what you actually said was that you'd be sitting there with a beer, passing judgement. So where's the beer?" she asked.

"It's breakfast time!"

"If breakfast doesn't count as a meal that you can have a beer with, then it doesn't count enough to be called cooking," the cop announced confidently, satisfied with that logic.

"Well I can still pass judgement if you like," Holly muttered, not impressed with having her victory wiped out.

But Gail was done with that conversation and instead moved on to her favourite subject as she laid out the bacon in the pan. "Who is the dirty cop, Hols?" she asked, missing the eye roll the doctor threw in her direction. They had exhausted this topic once again yesterday and she was tired of talking about it.

"Maybe they're all in on it," she replied flippantly, but Gail grunted and waited for a proper answer. But the brunette didn't have one and simply shrugged her shoulders in defeat. "It would explain how whoever it is knew everything we were doing!" she offered the slim justification for that theory.

The blonde shook her head. This was the problem they kept coming back to; not one single person from the team had been involved in every incident, apart from Gail herself. In particular, the first time Holly was actually attacked was when the two of them had gone jogging but that had been a secret between her and Sanderson. And it _couldn't_ be Sanderson, they had already worked that much out. Yet he was the only one who knew that Holly would be out that morning. They could have just been unlucky and been spotted by a watcher who decided to try their luck. But Sanderson was also the one who had completed the check of the local area before they left and he was supposed to make sure they weren't under surveillance. Did he miss something? That was the only explanation for those thugs being there that day – unless they had prior knowledge. And as it was an off the books outing, Gail knew damn well she hadn't told anyone and she was pretty sure Sanderson wouldn't have passed the info on to McGregor. _Holly didn't even know until ten minutes before we left_ she told herself, but as soon as that thought crossed her mind, it pinged up another possible leak. _What if Holly had told someone?_

"That day we went jogging; did you tell anyone?" she asked urgently, the bacon forgotten for a moment as it sizzled slightly in the pan.

"There was nobody there Gail, it was only the three of us," the pathologist replied.

"No, I mean did you call anyone? When I left and you were getting ready, did you call your Mom or Lisa to tell them you were going for a run?"

"No! But what difference would it have made if I had? They wouldn't have called up McGregor or Chen to tell them!" she said, thoroughly confused.

Gail rubbed at her eyelids. "They could have listened in though," she said without thinking, distracted by yet another theory falling by the wayside. As soon as she said it though, she froze. _Holy shit._ Holly still didn't know about the phone tap. _Please don't let her notice what I just said,_ she asked whatever higher power there was out there, eyeing up the brunette from behind her fingers.

"How? They weren't there Gail, they can't eavesdrop on a phone call when they're not even in the house!" Holly laughed. All this going round in circles had clearly fried Gail's brain. McGregor would have to have Superman style hearing to hear a phone conversation from his hotel two miles away from her place. However, when she met her girlfriend's eyes and saw the panic in them she realised the blonde was nervous. _What wasn't she telling her_ _?_ Holly wondered. Suddenly, the jigsaw pieces came together and she nearly choked in shock as she stumbled to get her words out.

"What…Gail? Listened in? What do you mean? Gail, are you telling me that my phone was bugged?" she asked.

Blue eyes widened and the blonde hesitated, not knowing how to answer.

"Gail. Was my phone bugged?" Holly asked again, her voice dangerously low.

The cop swallowed hard and came clean. She had no other option; Holly had asked her outright. "Yes," she answered simply.

"What the fuck? Since when? And how?" the brunette stood up behind the table, her complete shock leading her to react physically.

"From the beginning. The tech guys sorted it on the first day; they put a tap on your phone so we could listen to the calls. If we wanted," the blonde explained.

"Oh my God," Holly spluttered, suddenly feeling rather ill. "All my calls? You listened to all my calls?" She cast her mind back over some of the phone conversations she had had over the past few weeks and felt a flush of embarrassment rush to her cheeks. She'd spoken to her Mom about her feelings for Gail. She'd laughed with Lisa about it…and bitched about being under house arrest. All along Gail and the other cops had been listening. _Oh God_. She looked down on the guilt ridden woman in front of her and saw the other woman wince.

"Not all of them…" the police officer hedged and at that point, Holly's shame turned to anger.

"How dare you? How fucking dare you!?" she yelled. She spun away from the table and paced furiously across the kitchen. Her conversations with her family and friends were private. She had a right to that privacy, whether she was under protection or not. And the team had trampled all over that. _Gail_ had trampled all over that. She felt sick with anger. All that uncertainty and all that dancing around each other they had done; Gail saying that she was scared. It was all a lie. Gail knew exactly how Holly felt about her all along, because she'd heard it from Holly herself when she had spied on those phone calls.

"Holly…" the blonde began, but the doctor rounded furiously on her.

"Don't. Don't even try to make excuses, Gail. You are so far out of line here, I can't even tell you!" she exclaimed.

Gail flinched as the forgotten bacon spat hot fat and she turned the heat off before taking a step towards Holly. "I know. I'm sorry," she said softly, eyeing her girlfriend with the same caution one would approach a cornered wild animal.

"You're sorry?" the pathologist threw back, her voice dripping with disdain. "You've had total access to spy on me, to listen to my private conversations and you're sorry? You've betrayed me," she told the other woman, and as soon as she said it she realised that was exactly how she felt. Betrayed. Holly wasn't stupid, she knew what sort of power the police had these days. Granted, she hadn't expected them to be using some of the more covert techniques on her; she was a witness, not a suspect. In fact, she wasn't even a witness - her sister was. She thought she could trust the guys that she had welcomed into her home over the past month or so. She had always felt like the six of them were a team and not her bodyguards. She certainly never suspected that they were watching her, but it turned out that they were poking and prying into her life like she was one of the gang members they were trying to get locked up. And worse still, the woman that she had fallen for during this crazy period was in on it.

She never would have thought Gail could be so deceitful and unethical. Sure, the blonde was snarky and downright rude on occasion, but Holly had always thought she was honest and straightforward. _But Gail's even worse than the rest of them,_ she thought. _She invaded my privacy and then used the knowledge to play me_. The doctor felt hot tears well up in her eyes and knew she had to get away. She wouldn't cry in front of Gail, she wouldn't let her see her like this. She turned her back on the other woman and marched across the cabin towards the front door, grabbing the stolen jacket she had claimed as her own on the way.

"Wait, Hols!" Gail called after her. However the furious brunette ignored her, yanking the door open and striding through it. She heard Gail's footsteps clatter across the floorboards behind her but didn't slow down.

"Where are you going?" yelled the police officer as she desperately tried to pull her own jacket on whilst juggling the cabin keys as she locked the door behind her. She ran to catch up with Holly but the other woman refused to even look at her. "You can't just walk off, Lunchbox!" she said, "Come on, slow down,"

"Leave me alone, Gail," Holly warned her as she continued to stomp down the path leading away from the cabin.

"Come back and talk to me about this," the blonde pleaded. "I can explain,"

"I don't want to hear it. Right now I can't even look at you!" Holly shot back, wishing the cop would just back off. She couldn't have this argument now. She didn't want to be anywhere near Gail because she was so angry with her, she knew she would explode and probably say something she regretted.

"You can't just run off on your own, Holly, remember?" Gail told her, almost jogging to keep up with the doctor's furious strides.

"I can do what I damn well please, Officer Peck! It's my life, despite what you might think. You're not in control of everything I do!" she yelled, deliberately using her rank and surname to put a barrier between them.

"I know; I don't want to be! I'm not trying to be," Gail replied.

"Yeah well you should have thought of that when you were listening in to my fucking private calls!" Holly retorted, coming to a stop and facing Gail square on.

Gail halted her trotting and faced the other woman. She reached out to place a hand on her arm but Holly shook it off immediately and gave her a fiery glare through the tears that were now spilling over and rolling down her cheeks.

"Don't!" she said again.

"I'm sorry," Gail replied reflexively, starting to panic a little. She had never seen Holly look so furious.

"Just leave me alone, Gail. I need some space," Holly told her, shaking her head.

"I'm really sorry, but I can't. I can't just let you go off; we don't know if it's safe here," pleaded the blonde.

"Argh!" Holly yelled, throwing her hands up in the air. "I am sick to death of this! I can't even be pissed off without one of you poking your nose in!" She realised the cop wasn't going to let her stroll off into the forest on her own but all she wanted was some alone time to cry and maybe yell a bit. She turned and marched off again and Gail could hear her cursing under her breath.

"I have to come with you, Holly," she called after her from her stationery position in the middle of the path.

"Do what you like, Gail. But don't talk to me. I can't be held responsible for what I say to you right now," Holly shouted back as she sped up.

Gail blinked. She could deal with that instruction so took it as permission to follow the brunette. She followed her down the twisting path through the forest. She had no clue where Holly was headed therefore she steeled herself for a long walk. She stayed thirty yards behind the other woman, deciding that was close enough if anything happened but far enough to respect her privacy. To be honest, she had no idea what to say to Holly in order to make this better anyway, so the gagging order wasn't a bad thing. Gail hadn't liked the idea of the phone tap from the start but when Sanderson had said it was a standard operating procedure, she'd gone along with it. She should have been stronger and refused to do it; like McNally. Fucking Princess McNally. Gail had only listened to a few conversations before it made her uncomfortable. And she knew the rest of the team had stopped listening too…although that didn't excuse it in the first place. When she and Holly had become closer, she had felt increasingly guilty about eavesdropping on her phone calls. But in all honesty, she had forgotten they could even do it as other things had kind of overtaken that fact in her mind - things like the overwhelming urge to be near the nerdy doctor…and wanting to kiss her senseless. It wasn't like she ever heard anything particularly private either; apart from that initial admission that Holly thought she was hot. But at the time, she had thought Holly was talking about Sanderson! She groaned. It didn't matter what she had heard, she knew that. It was the principle of the matter. Gail knew she had to apologise…if only Holly would listen. The doctor had every right to be angry.

Eventually, they came to the lake and Holly trekked around the waterline for a few hundred meters before sitting down on the pebbled shore. Gail stopped and found herself a spot to wait, leant back against a tree trunk twenty yards behind where the brunette sat. She watched as Holly ran her fingers through the pebbles surrounding her, picking out the odd one and launching it into the lake. The low plopping noise each stone made as it hit the water was the only sound Gail could hear around them when she first settled back against her tree but the longer the silence stretched on, the more she was able to discern. She heard the rustle of the light breeze in the tree tops above her and the call of birds she couldn't see. She could also hear the quiet sobs of the hunched over woman sitting amongst the pebbles and Gail thought her heart would break from the sound of it.

It took a while but the sobbing finally stopped. Soon after that, so did the stone throwing. Gail really didn't know how long they had been there. She had last looked at her watch thirty minutes ago but at that point they had already been at the lake for some time. During that time, the blonde's guilt had only grown and so had the panicked feeling churning through her stomach. She had fucked this up yet again. Things had been going so well between her and Holly, despite the chaotic and scary situation they found themselves in. But now the pathologist was hurt and Gail knew there wasn't anything she could say to make it better. She had betrayed Holly's trust; they all had.

As she pondered that thought, Holly finally broke the silence; "You're still here," she said, her tone showing that it was a statement not a question.

"Yeah," Gail answered.

"I thought cats liked to run away?" Holly asked and the cop winced. She knew that analogy would come back to bite her in the ass someday. It seemed the question was rhetorical though, as Holly didn't turn around but carried on speaking. "Come and sit here with me,"

Gail raised her eyebrows in surprise. Holly's voice was at a normal volume now but the fact she wasn't looking at Gail showed she was still upset. But she wasn't yelling so that was a good sign, right? On the other hand, maybe she was done thinking and now that she had calmed down this was when she was going to do it. Holly was going to break up with her. They had only declared they were officially together yesterday and now they were already over. Even with Gail's disastrous relationship record, this was a brand new low. Her heart sank and she swallowed the lump in her throat before making her way over and settling herself down next to the other woman. She wanted to put her arm around Holly's shoulders but didn't dare touch her.

"I'm sorry," Gail started, deciding to just get that sentiment out there once again before Holly dropped the bombshell.

"I need to know what you heard when you listened to my phone calls," the pathologist said, ignoring the apology but still keeping her voice calm. She stared out over the water, her expression inscrutable.

"Um…I heard you talking to Lisa on the day we first met, because you had to cancel dinner with your friends. And I listened to a couple of calls with your Mom, but I honestly can't remember what they were about. I promise you, I stopped after those first few because I didn't think it was right," Gail told her, hoping Holly would believe it.

"But the others still listened?" asked the brunette.

"Yes, for a while. But nobody did it with the intention of spying on you or finding out your personal business. Nobody talked about anything they heard. McGregor said they always do it on these jobs, because they have cases where people don't want be guarded…" the cop tried to explain.

"Nobody wants to be under police protection! Well what a surprise!" Holly interrupted sarcastically.

"We all stopped listening when we realised there was no need. And I really am sorry for even doing it in the first place but I was trying to do my job that's all. I wasn't trying to invade your privacy, or hurt you," Gail said sadly. She was still bracing herself, waiting for Holly to dump her so it came as a surprise when the doctor acknowledged that.

"I know you weren't," she said.

"You do?" squeaked Gail.

Holly sighed and looked at Gail for the first time in over an hour. She saw the guilt written all over the blonde's face and took a perverse pleasure in knowing that at least her girlfriend understood what a big deal this was. But she did believe that the cop hadn't deliberately done this. When Gail had first let it slip and she had hit the roof, she had thought the other woman had been playing her; listening in to her private calls and learning all of her thoughts and feelings before using that knowledge to engineer their relationship. But now that she had calmed down and had time to think it through, she knew that really wasn't the case. That didn't stop her from being mad of course. She had asked Gail what she had heard just to confirm the conclusion she had already come to…Gail hadn't heard anything particularly revealing. She had stopped listening before Holly had spent hours talking her mom's ear off about the beautiful blonde cop. And once she had gotten over her initial rage, Holly also had to admit that she knew Gail's approach to their burgeoning relationship wasn't an act. Her initial skittish nerves and clueless avoidance, followed by the eventual submission to her feelings had all been too impulsive to be anything but genuine. Yet despite that realisation, she was still fuming about the whole situation and she tried to explain that to the police officer.

"I am so angry about this Gail. I get that to start with it was part of your job. But I think it's an outrageous part of your job and if I had found out about this when I was home, I would be putting an official complaint in to McGregor's superiors. But I'm not at home and you're the only one here, so you're the one I'm mad at!" she said, her voice rising along with her temper. A tear escaped and she swiped it away.

"I was part of it. You can be mad at me," the blonde admitted quietly.

"You should have told me. Fine, so you stopped listening. But the others still were and that's an invasion of my privacy that you knew about and didn't stop,"

"But it was my job. I liked you more than just a job…but you're saying I should have jeopardised our entire operation?!" she argued, despite her resolution to not turn this into a shouting match. Gail couldn't help feeling a bit wound up by all this. Fine, it couldn't have been nice to find out you'd been bugged. But she had only been doing her job!

"Oh right, so you liked me, but not enough? Is that it? This is all just a bit of fun, no need to actually be honest here!" Holly snapped back, but when she saw the hurt in Gail's eyes she immediately wanted to take that back. They both watched the sun bounce off the water in front of them, the picturesque scene at odds with the heated words they had exchanged.

"I did my job. That's all," Gail replied sullenly.

"That's not an excuse,"

"Yeah, it is actually. And you need to accept it," the cop told her, her eyes narrowing as her anger bubbled away under the surface.

"Right, so every time you do something I don't like, then I just have to put up with it because of your line of work?" Holly fumed, her fears from a couple of days ago coming flooding back. She couldn't reconcile cop Gail with girlfriend Gail, but the blonde seemed to switch between the two so easily.

"We're done with this conversation," Gail said firmly and Holly couldn't help notice that she had slipped into the cold and commanding tone she used whenever she was in her police mode. Sure enough, Gail stood up and folded her arms across her chest in the classic cop stance that Holly had teased her about all those weeks ago.

The pathologist shook her head. "Oh, are we?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

However, the blonde ignored it. "Get up. We're going back to the cabin,"

 _Great_ , thought Holly. _Fucking Robocop is back._ "Don't order me about Gail, I'm warning you," the pathologist replied, barely holding back her disdain for how the cop spoke to her.

The cop didn't respond and her expression hardened as she stood there on the cold, pebbled shoreline. She failed to notice the dangerous tone in Holly's voice as her mind was still replaying the comment about this being "a bit of fun". _If that's what she thinks then what's the point in working this out_? The other woman may as well just split up with her now. She moved back towards her spot against the tree, deliberately not looking at the brunette.

"We're going back now," she said again.

Holly turned her head to look over her shoulder. She had recognised the hurt that had flashed across her girlfriend's face moments ago but she wasn't feeling exactly rational about this. She got up and walked over to where the police officer stood.

"Go on then Officer, lead the way!" she snapped.

Gail wanted to challenge the heavy cloak of disdain that had choked the air between them but settled for simply shrugging her shoulders and gesturing for Holly to follow. They walked back to the cabin in silence and when they arrived, Gail let the pathologist in. Holly immediately went through to the bedroom and shut the door behind her, so the blonde stayed in the living room. Feeling cold all of a sudden, she placed some kindling and lit the fire, watching the flickering flames lick around the logs. She pulled the curtains across, shutting out the daylight so the firelight cast a glow over the shadowy room. She perched on the couch and pushed away her hurt feelings, concentrating on how she was going to stop Holly from leaving. The two of them may have been finished before they had even really started, but the danger wasn't over and the doctor couldn't go home. They had come this far and Gail still had a duty to protect her. It would be hard, but they had to stay here so Gail resolved to stop the brunette from walking out, whatever it took. _You could always arrest her_ , she supposed. _Yeah, because that will go_ _over_ _well right now!_

Considering Holly didn't really have anything to pack, the blonde was amazed that it took her over an hour to emerge from the bedroom. She steeled herself for the argument they were about to have but when the doctor spoke her voice was composed.

"I shouldn't have said that about us being a bit of fun. I didn't mean it," she opened with, much to Gail's surprise. The cop could only nod in response, pleased that Holly had said that but sensing there was a 'but' to come. Sure enough, the brunette continued as she sat down on the opposite end of the couch; "I'm just mad that you didn't tell me."

Gail wrapped her arms around her legs and tucked her chin onto her knees. She knew what Holly was saying, but she wasn't sure what else she could have done. "When though? When would I have told you? I didn't even know you to start with, I couldn't ignore an order from my boss and tell you exactly what was happening within five minutes of meeting you!" she rationalised.

"I don't know! When we started to get close? When you kissed me in my bedroom? When we got here and it was just us?" Holly threw her hands up in exasperation.

"By that time I wasn't even thinking about your phone calls! We'd all stopped listening a long time ago! It hadn't even crossed my mind for weeks!" Gail implored.

"That's a pretty poor excuse Gail, and you know it!" Holly yelled.

"I was doing my job!" the blonde yelled right back.

"And that's part of the problem, you know that right?" the doctor asked. "I hate the way you can casually slip between being my girlfriend and then being my bodyguard. You change, Gail, did you know that?"

"I don't change! I'm still me!"

"Yeah, you do. One minute you're sweet and caring and the next second the cop comes out and everything is short and sharp and you're ordering me about,"

"I'm always short and sharp. That's just the way I am, Holly," Gail replied, her mouth set in a hard line. What did the brunette expect? She had made it clear from the start that she had a job to do. She thought Holly understood that.

"No you're not. Not with me, not when we're together. But it's like you can flick a switch and pull down your barriers without so much as a second thought," Holly argued.

"You really think it's that easy?" asked the blonde incredulously. How could Holly not see how hard it had been for her? "I am constantly fighting myself over this! You make me feel conflicted and I hate that. I feel like I'm not doing my job properly and then when I am being a cop, I feel like I'm not being your girlfriend properly either!"

"You _can_ be a cop, I get that, I really do! And I know I agreed to follow your lead when it came to my safety but you don't have to go all hard line to make that happen!"

"This is exactly why I held back from you to begin with. Mixing business and pleasure never ends well. We can't have a personal and professional relationship at the same time," Gail stated, her voice cracking on her last sentence. She knew it would come down to this. She had known from the start which was precisely why she had fought her feelings. And now it was happening. Just when she had decided to let it all go and be happy with Holly, the job loomed it's ugly head over them and ruined it all. She sucked in a deep breath. _Keep it together, Peck,_ she told herself. _You've still got a job to do… even if you hate that damn job right now._

They stared at each other for a beat, before they lapsed into an awkward silence, both breathing hard. It was minutes before Holly spoke again.

"Sorry. I didn't come out here to fight with you. I guess we're both struggling with that transition, eh?" she said sadly. Although she was still fuming, what Gail had said had struck a chord. She knew the blonde had been struggling to fulfil what she saw as her duties but she hadn't realised that had led Gail to feel so inadequate…in both roles. Suddenly she understood why the police officer came across so uncompromising sometimes; Gail was terrified of making a mistake and something happening to her as a consequence.

Sure enough, the other woman confirmed that. "I couldn't deal with it if you get hurt, Holly. So I'm sorry if you think I'm too serious and that I overstep my authority, but I'd rather you were safe even if that means you hate me,"

"I don't hate you, Gail, far from it," replied the pathologist, wanting to make that clear. "But I don't like it when you talk to me like some Rookie. If you ask me to do something and explain exactly why then I promise you I'll do it,"

"Well I don't mean to give you orders," Gail acknowledged. "But I know sometimes I do – it's just my training. We're supposed to be official and be able to give commands. Sometimes there isn't time to explain; it would actually make a situation worse. And if you're in danger, I have to be quick and decisive. Just know that I'm not trying to be disrespectful,"

"I do know that. But I'm not used to it. You've had years to get that attitude ingrained, whereas I don't get a lot of orders in my career!"

"I guess not. But this isn't exactly normal life right now,"

"Okay. And I don't deliberately ignore you, I promise. I just never quite know when you're in cop mode and when you're just my girlfriend,"

"Can't I be both?" Gail asked, in a small voice. She knew what was coming; Holly was going to end things between them.

"I think that's something we need to work on. And it will probably be easier when we're not in the middle of this mess," Holly suggested, waving her hands in a vague gesture to indicate their current situation.

Gail felt a flicker of hope when the doctor said they should work on things but that was extinguished with the follow up. _Holly thought that they should break up and try again when all this was cleared up?_ She supposed that was better than ending things completely of course but she couldn't help feeling like her stomach had dropped into her boots.

"I'll try not to be such a cop with you. But I can't promise it'll never happen. I'm just scared sometimes, Holly," she admitted, deliberately not looking at the other woman.

Holly nodded carefully, pleased that Gail had finally confessed that. She felt the need to reciprocate and explain why she had been so hurt earlier.

"I'm scared too you know. It's just…I've told you so many times lately that I trust you. I've trusted you with my life in fact but more importantly I'm also trusting you with my heart now too. When I found out about the phone tap, I felt like you had betrayed me and that was really hard to take," she said, her voice low once again.

Gail felt her own heart clench at that statement and tried to respond, but there was really nothing she could say. She wanted to tell Holly that she could trust her, that she would never intentionally let her down. But she already had…and over something so stupid. She deliberately lowered her voice and tried to stay calm. "I never meant to do that. And I know you think I'm making excuses to squirm out of it, but it's the truth – listening in to your calls was something I haven't even thought about since those first few days. If I'd stopped to think about it, then yeah, I would have known how it would make you feel and I would have told you. But I can't change that now,"

"No. You can't," Holly stated.

The blonde tried to quash the sick feeling that rolled through her body at the flat tone in Holly's voice. "I'm sorry," she said, "But we need to stay here, you can't leave. You know that right? I get that you don't want to be with me but until things are safe…I don't know what else we can do. I'll stay out of your way as much as I can but you need someone to keep you safe,"

"What?" Holly asked, snapping her head round to stare at the cop once more.

"I'm just saying, you can't really go anywhere else right now…" Gail began again, but the brunette interrupted.

"No, what was that about me not wanting to be with you?"

"I just meant that even though you're breaking up with me, we're going to have to stick together for a little while longer," the police officer explained fighting to keep her emotions in check. _Why is she still dragging this out?_! Holly had been trying to break up with her for hours now and it was like the knife in her chest was being slowly twisted round. Gail just wanted to get it all out in the open, agree to stick to the plan and stay here. Then she could go and sob her heart out in her new bunk room.

"Gail, I am not breaking up with you!" Holly exclaimed.

The blonde blinked and shook her head in a vain attempt to work out what was going on. "You're not?"

"No! We've only been officially together for a day!"

"I know, but we're fighting and I let you down…" Gail said, shrugging as if her conclusion made perfect sense.

"Hey," Holly said, lifting her hand and placing it on the other woman's knee, bridging the gap between them. "Couples fight Gail. I'm not leaving you based on one stupid argument. I'm just trying to explain to you why I'm hurt so that we actually communicate, not so I can break up with you!"

"I do understand why," Gail told her quickly.

"Good! And I understand why you didn't tell me, I do. You were in a really difficult position and I believe you when you say you didn't mean to hurt me. So you haven't let me down. I spent the last hour in the bedroom thinking it through and now that I'm a bit more rational I do know that," the pathologist explained.

"I thought you were packing up, so you could leave," Gail admitted and she chanced a glance at the woman sitting beside her.

"I haven't got anything to pack," Holly joked. "I'm still wearing your stuff!"

"I'm sorry. You know that, right?" the cop asked.

"I know. And I'm sorry for exploding at you. I'm still a bit mad, but this isn't a deal breaker, Gail. I forgive you. I'm not sure I'll forgive the police force as a whole for abuse of power but that's not your fault," Holly told her sincerely.

The blonde nodded, relief flooding through her. But she wanted to hear Holly say it once more because she couldn't quite believe she hadn't screwed this up quite as much as she had first thought. "So you're definitely not breaking up with me?" she clarified, surreptitiously crossing her fingers down by the side of her leg where Holly couldn't see.

"Do you always assume the absolute worst in every situation, or are relationships a special case?" asked the doctor.

"Pretty much, yes," replied Gail, completely seriously.

"We're going to need to work on that too," Holly mused. "No, I am not breaking up with you. In fact, right now you need to move your knees so I can cuddle with you," she said, deciding she needed to properly reassure the cop. Not to mention the fact that she needed a hug herself to help push away the stress of their argument. She shuffled her body across the sofa and shoved at Gail's legs which were folded up in front of her body. The blonde dropped them to the floor and lifted her arm, allowing Holly to tuck herself under it before she draped it over her shoulder. The pathologist didn't miss the almost imperceptible sigh that left Gail's lips and felt the stiffness leave her body as they both relaxed into each other's arms.

"I don't like fighting with you," murmured the cop and Holly grinned into her side.

"Me neither. But this was only our first fight," she pointed out.

"We've only been together a day," Gail stated darkly.

"Well I doubt we'll have a fight every single day of our relationship, going forward,"

"Hopefully not. Though I don't know if you noticed, but I'm pretty…"

"Belligerent? Argumentative?" Holly cut in, with a small grin.

Gail raised her eyebrows. "Keep that up, and we might be about to have our second fight,"

"I'm joking," Holly hastened to add. "I think you're pretty great the way you are,"

"I was going to say pretty bad at relationships," continued the cop.

"Stop that," she admonished, gently pinching Gail's side to emphasise her point. "I picked that fight and we both said stupid things. So don't blame yourself for everything that ever goes slightly wrong,"

They lapsed back into silence and watched the flames dance in front of them. Holly would have been quite content to lie there all day, propped against Gail's side with her arm flung over the other woman's waist, but it was the blonde who broke the peace and quiet this time.

"Do you think we still would have met? If it hadn't have been for all this I mean. Do you think you and I would still have met?" she asked, sounding thoughtful.

"I guess so. We work for the same division; I think you'd have been into my lab sooner or later," Holly replied. She had only been in her job a couple of months yet she had met at least half of the local cops already. In fact, she recognised some of the names she had heard Gail mention; Nash, Swarek, Epstein, Price had all crossed her path at some point. It would have only been a matter of time before Officer Peck showed up at the door, probably with a weird piece of evidence if the rest of Fifteen's visits were anything to go by.

"Hmm," Gail agreed. "Or maybe over some gross dead body in the woods," she suggested.

Holly laughed. "Romantic. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. It's just we met in pretty strange circumstances. I just wonder if things would have been different if this hadn't happened with your sister," mused the blonde.

"You mean would we have wound up together if we hadn't been forced to spend so much time with each other?" Holly asked, with a flash of intuition and a worried tone to her voice. This is what she had been frightened of all along; that the blonde had gotten caught up in the situation and would suddenly realise this is not actually what she wanted. Her hand which had been tracing lazy circles on Gail's ribs stilled as she waited for the cop to reply. Gail noticed the unease however, and caught Holly's palm in her own, linking their fingers together and squeezing.

"No," she tried to reassure the other woman. "I think we still would have gotten together even without all this. It's all been so intense but I think that just sped things up, you know? It hasn't created anything that wouldn't have already been there,"

The pathologist let go on of the breath she didn't realise she was holding. "I know what you mean. Things would have been different if we were friends first. But I don't think I ever would have not been attracted to you, Gail," she told the other woman.

Gail rolled her eyes and tried to deflect the compliment with a gentle barb; "Perv,"

"You're beautiful, Gail," Holly said with a shrug. "But it's more than that. Do you know when I first knew about you? When you told me your first name to wind McGregor up. I thought then 'I'm going to like this girl'. Spending lots of time together just cemented my first impression," she explained.

The cop pulled Holly a little tighter against her, glad that the brunette felt the same way that she did. "You're right. I would have been attracted to you too. It might have taken me even longer to realise if we weren't stuck with each other every day. But eventually, you would have smiled at me when I wasn't expecting it and I would have been a goner. That's what happened when I met you, did you know that? You smiled at me and I couldn't help smiling back,"

"Isn't that what you're supposed to do when someone smiles at you?" Holly laughed, although Gail's assertion quashed her nerves down even further.

"No. You're supposed to wonder what they want from you," the blonde answered, seriously. "But you smile is contagious, Holly Stewart,"

The pathologist couldn't hide her pleasure at that compliment and looked up to give her one of those perfectly infectious smiles that made the police officer grin back. "It's sickening really," Gail said.

Holly ignored the jibe, knowing it wasn't serious. "So, you're not worried that this isn't real?" she asked, wanting one last bit of reassurance that Gail wasn't feeling confused about how she felt. "That things are only intense between us because of the situation and that once we're back to normal things won't be the same?"

The blonde pondered that one carefully, wanting to give an honest answer. "Everything has been intense. Like you said earlier; you are trusting me with your heart…and that's big. It's a little scary," she said, honestly.

Holly bit her lip, she knew she shouldn't have said something so loaded with emotion, but she had been upset and angry and it had slipped out. "I didn't say it to scare you. But I can't help how I feel," she replied.

"I know you didn't. And I'm not just scared, I'm excited too. I know how I feel, Lunchbox. I wouldn't have chosen any of this; your sister being in trouble, the attacks or moving here. But I'm not sorry it's happened either. It feels right," Gail expounded, looking deep into Holly's eyes.

The doctor searched her face for any sign of uncertainty, but found none. "I feel the same," she murmured and craned her neck upwards to peck Gail lightly on the lips.

Gail smiled when Holly drew back. "If we had met normally then I would have pretended I wasn't attracted to you and you would have decided not to pursue the straight girl. Then we would have been friends before some shit happened to bring us together. So basically, nothing would have changed!" she announced, shrugging her shoulders and rolling her eyes once more.

Holly laughed. "Well maybe a few details. We wouldn't have had our first fight over my phone being bugged, that's for sure,"

"You haven't met my mother. It's entirely possible she might try that when she finds out I'm dating someone," the blonde shuddered at the thought. Of course, maybe her mother would be so taken aback that her someone was a woman, she might forgo her usual spying techniques. That revelation was a bridge she would have to cross sooner or later.

Holly laughed, assuming Gail was joking but soon stopped when she realised the other woman was deadly serious. "How about we don't do the whole 'meet the parents' thing for a few months?" she suggested.

"Or maybe a few years?"

"Deal," Holly ceded, and she linked her pinkie finger with Gail's to seal the agreement before settling back into the blonde's side, thoughts of their earlier fight fading as they cuddled closer and Gail's fingers danced up and down her side. She hummed happily at the thought of a few years, as Gail had said. She knew it had been a throwaway comment but she couldn't help treasure it a little. Maybe it was naïve to think things wouldn't be different between them if circumstances weren't so crazy. The intensity had obviously magnified everything, which was risky, but it also helped. Maybe when they weren't forced to spend 24/7 together, life would get in the way. They wouldn't have been forced to address things and Gail might have done her impression of a cat. But right now, all she could think was that they would deal with that if and when it came. And that conviction was why precisely why she couldn't hold on to her anger about the phone tap. But if she ever saw McGregor again, well he'd better hope he was the snitch and was safely locked up because although she could forgive Gail, her boss was a different story entirely.

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 **AN/ Sorry for all the swearing. Turns out Holly's language is disgraceful when she's angry.**

 **Thanks to Kravn for beta-ing, and to Denise2019 for releasing balloons in her review, which made me smile. :-)**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: So, last time we had their first big fight. Now that's over and done with, what else are they going to spend their time doing...?**

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Holly was a thinker; always had been and always would be. When she was a child, her mum used to say "Holly's my thinker, Kate's my dreamer!" and it was true. She liked to analyse everything, it was part of what drew her to the sciences. Kate on the other hand was more impulsive, more imaginative. Therefore ever since they were kids, she loved to tease her sister about her more cautious nature. And it was true that sometimes Holly would overthink things. So she knew damn well that if Kate could see her right now, she would be laughing her ass off.

"Are you going to get that done or what?" Gail asked, breaking into Holly's careful calculations from her spot up on the deck.

"You come down here and do it, if you're such an expert," the brunette suggested, frowning at the task at hand.

"You're the lesbian!" the cop laughed, "This is all yours!"

Holly shaded her eyes against the afternoon sun and stared up at the other woman. "I really don't remember this being an essential lesbian skill," she argued back, deciding not to query whether Gail too should be labelling herself like that.

"Of course it is! You all own plaid shirts and the boots. It's all part of that,"

The pathologist stuck her tongue out at Gail. "I'm just figuring out my technique," she replied. As she leaned on the axe handle she scrutinised the log that she had placed on the old tree trunk that was acting as a makeshift chopping block. This really shouldn't be that complicated. She was a smart, successful woman who was completely capable of splitting some firewood. She swung the axe up over her shoulder, adjusted her grip, took aim and brought it crashing down on the wood…chipping off a small chunk and leaving the majority intact as it went tumbling to the ground.

She heard the cackles from above her head and gritted her teeth.

"Keep working on that technique, Lunchbox!" Gail called out, her voice full of merriment.

Holly chose to ignore her and retrieved the log, setting it back on the chopping block. She lifted the axe once more and this time concentrated on her aim rather than force. Sure enough, the axe hit the log dead centre…but only went halfway through. She yanked back on the handle but the wood was stuck on the blade and all attempts to shake it free were in vain. Once again, the blonde howled with laughter. Holly bit her lip, trying not to giggle herself. It didn't happen very often, but the sound of Gail letting herself go in peals of genuine laughter was one of the most beautiful things she had ever heard.

"At least you hit it this time," the cop announced and Holly dropped the axe and whirled round, hands on hips.

"We can do without firewood you know. It's not that cold," she answered, giving Gail a hard look.

The blonde hurriedly wiped the grin off her face. "But I'm always cold," she said, giving the brunette her best puppy dog eyes.

"Wear another sweater. Use an extra blanket," Holly recommended with a shrug.

Gail scuttled across to the wooden steps and hopped down them two at a time. She jogged over to Holly and wrapped her arms around the doctor's waist, pressing her chest against her back. "But the fire is sooo romantic," she wheedled, kissing the shell of her ear. Holly dropped her head back onto her girlfriend's shoulder with a sigh. She couldn't argue with that. They had mainly been lighting the fire so they could curl up in front of it and make out, not actually to keep the cabin warm. Before she could get comfortable though, Gail let go and stepped around her to pick up the discarded axe.

"Once you've gone halfway through, just give it another whack," she said, demonstrating by thumping the blade and log against the chopping block, splitting the wood neatly in two.

"You've done this before!" Holly accused her. The cop had definitely not mentioned that earlier in the morning when they had played rock, paper, scissors to decide who picked up this particular chore today.

"Ah. Well, outdoor skills were a big part of Peck family training. If you think you can finally enjoy a holiday when you eventually find the cabin after being dropped off in the middle of nowhere, then think again. There's a fire to be built, hunting to do, radio codes to memorise, rafts to be built…" Gail rattled off, with a roll of her eyes.

"I tell you what," Holly said, sidling up to the blonde and kissing her gently on the lips. "You sort out the firewood and then later on when we're cuddled up in front of it, I'll let you be the little spoon,"

"And you'll make hot chocolate?" Gail demanded, trying to get a little more out of the deal.

"With marshmallows," the pathologist nodded.

"Fine," agreed the blonde, before she grabbed another log from the wood pile and set it on the chopping block.

Holly grinned and sat down on the cabin steps, stretching out in the sunshine and watching Gail deftly split the wood into two before repeating the action. The task would be done in no time at this rate…which Holly couldn't help thinking was kind of a shame, as watching the police officer chop wood was a lot more fun than doing it herself.

"I hate manual labour," Gail grouched as she brought the axe down on another log.

"Yeah, but you look good doing it," the doctor consoled her, unashamedly ogling as the blonde bent over to collect more wood. Gail may have had a skinny frame but she was toned and fit and when she lifted the axe above her head, her t-shirt would ride up at the waist, giving Holly a glimpse of her bare stomach and hips.

"Right, so this is why you're still out here – not to help, but to watch me sweat?"

"Kind of, yeah," the brunette admitted, winking as Gail huffed at her.

"How very Neanderthal of you," she said, as witheringly as she could given her slightly elevated breathing and the fact that she had been standing on the deck waiting for Holly to start work for that exact same reason.

Holly grinned as the other woman went back to her task. Maybe it was a bit caveman to sit back and stare at her girlfriend like this but she decided she didn't really care. Besides she knew Gail had been planning the same thing earlier, given the blonde's slightly odd obsession with her arms.

"So, who's the corrupt cop?" Gail grunted as she raised the blade once more.

However, the brunette missed the question as her attention was stolen by that strip of skin on show again. "Hmm?" she asked, her eyes fixed on Gail's smooth abdomen and the shape of her body as she stretched her arms out.

"Who is it, nerd? Chen or McGregor?" repeated the police officer, before bringing the axe down with a large thud.

Holly rolled her eyes. They had been over this conversation so many times, and hadn't gotten much further since their first day at the cabin. "I don't know," she answered.

"We're missing something," Gail told her, taking a breather and spinning the handle of the axe round in her hands before poking the tip of the blade into one of the crevices on the tree trunk.

The brunette nodded, knowing that was true. She had experienced cases like this at work where all the options seemed to be exhausted. The only answer was to start again but she liked to do things in a slightly different order if possible and found mixing it up sometimes helped.

"So let's not look at this like detectives," she suggested, trying to think of a way of turning their thinking upside down. "Let's do it my way and be pathologists,"

"What do you mean?" Gail asked, curiously.

"You guys always start with the 'who'. That's your goal as cops right; who did it? Who is the murderer, who is the thief? But in forensics, we examine the 'how'….how did this person die, how does this evidence prove our theory? So how did this happen to us? How did they attack me?" Holly explained slowly, very much thinking on her feet.

The blonde shrugged. It couldn't hurt to approach this from a different angle.

"So, the first incident was at the courthouse. That guy was watching you and following you round the building," she offered.

"Right. So how did he know I was there?" asked the doctor.

"He either followed you from home, he checked the court records and found your name in the witness list or someone told him," Gail ticked off the options on her fingers and Holly smothered a smile. Ticking points off on her fingers was a quirky habit of her girlfriend's and she couldn't help wonder what would happen if Gail ever got a list longer than ten items.

She realised the blonde was waiting for her to speak, so she hurriedly carried on the conversation. "Andy or Jake would have spotted it if we had been followed, wouldn't they?"

"They should have. But if Chen was on the take, he may have deliberately not noticed. Who drove that day?" asked the cop.

Holly frowned and cast her mind back. "Andy did, I think,"

"Okay. Well it's usually the driver who spots tails because they automatically have eyes on the traffic. So let's assume that McNally would have seen something if you had been followed from home,"

"But for the other two options, the guy would have needed inside help, right? So who knew I would be at the courthouse?" Holly queried.

"All of us. We discussed it at changeover that morning. And there would be a thousand other people you could bribe to see if your name was on the witness list at the court in any given week," Gail pulled a face, knowing that wasn't going to help them narrow it down. "

"Fine, then what was next? The attack in the street when we went running," the brunette said. "How did that happen?"

Gail carefully set down another block of wood and split it into two whilst she thought about that.

"Again, either they followed you from home or somebody told them. At least with that one there's no public notice they could check. I only planned it the night before and it was completely off record, obviously,"

"And you and Scott were the only ones that knew?" Holly clarified.

"Yep. Therefore nobody could have told Kolarov's people. They must have been watching your place and we should've noticed. Sanderson went out and did a perimeter check that morning to make sure nobody was hanging around," the blonde replied.

"But if he was the snitch, he could have faked that?" was the brunette's suggestion.

Gail shrugged. "Easily. But we know it's not him, is it? He must have just missed something,"

Holly had to shake her head, knowing they had exhausted all possibilities when it came to Sanderson. "So are we saying that my house must have been under constant surveillance and they followed us that day?"

The police officer slammed the axe down for a final time, half the log tumbling away on each side to join the others that now were now scattered across the ground. "I think so, yes. But they can't have been nearby because we were constantly checking the immediate blocks. They must have been parked up a few streets away. But we ran past them or something,"

"Right. Okay then – that's just dumb luck. You're saying that I happened to leave the house that morning with only one bodyguard - unlike any other day - and I happened to go past where they were camped out so they took their chance? That doesn't indicate a mole," argued the brunette.

"Fine, I'll give you that one. But then there's the safe house," Gail countered and the pathologist gestured at her to expand on that. "Well the fact that they found the place is a clincher in itself. That house is a secret. I didn't even know where it was until we landed there,"

"They could have followed us from my place again? Or from work?" interrupted Holly, trying to play devil's advocate.

"No way. We were so careful on every transition. Unless whoever is on the take deliberately skipped some of the tail avoidance tactics…but if they were going to do that, they could just tell the bad guys the location," the blonde theorised.

"Okay, so someone told them. But all five of you knew, so that doesn't tell us much,"

"The panic button didn't work when Sanderson slammed it. Someone must have disabled that. The gang that turned up that night knew there was a security system and where to cut the power. They knew the doors were strong so targeted the windows instead. Basically they knew too much, Hols. They had help," Gail stated. She began to collect up the firewood she had chopped, tossing it into the box Holly had brought out from beside the fireplace. The pathologist got up to help out, trying to slot the logs in neatly rather than carry on Gail's haphazard method.

"So how did it go wrong? If they knew so much, they should have succeeded. Or was it just that the three of you did a great job? I suppose that would be another tick on the list of reasons we know Scott and Andy aren't corrupt though," Holly suggested.

The blonde stretched out her back and thought about that. "We caught them on camera before they cut the power. When they came over the back fence they triggered a sensor…" she said, screwing up her brow as she thought about that. There was something important she was missing here, she could feel it dancing around the edge of her mind, frustratingly close but out of reach.

"Why did they do that? If they had help from the inside, surely they would have been told about the cameras and sensors?" asked the brunette as she placed the last of the logs in the box, dusting her hands off on the back of her jeans. She grabbed the handle on one side and waited for Gail to get the other but when the blonde merely stood there, she tried to prompt her by asking her directly; "Help me carry this inside?"

The cop didn't react, her gaze was on a faraway point as her mind worked furiously. "They thought it was safe," she muttered, almost to herself rather than Holly. She shuffled back and forth in front of where the brunette was crouched, scuffing her boots into the dusty ground. "On my first shift at the safe house, the sensor and camera fields were slightly off. Chen or McGregor must have tampered with them during the day shift; it wasn't a mistake like we thought. We only found out because a fox triggered them. So then Sanderson corrected it…but nobody knew. Whoever the dirty cop is either didn't realise or didn't have time to tell his gangster pals that there was no blind spot anymore!" she turned back to face the pathologist, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Holly abandoned the box of wood and adjusted her glasses, thinking that one over. "Well apart from again confirming that Sanderson isn't guilty, as he wouldn't have bothered fixing the sensor if he was, how does that help us?" she asked. "It doesn't narrow it down between McGregor and Chen,"

Gail visibly deflated. She kicked the tree stump with the toe of her boot and furrowed her brow. "Yeah well don't ask me how it helps. You're the one who said we should be pathologists. Don't blame me if your method doesn't work. We can know 'how' and still not know 'who," she said grumpily.

"I suppose it's good to absolutely discount Scott though," the pathologist could only offer a mild defence of her theory.

"We already knew it wasn't him!" Gail threw her hands up in frustration. "But he's the one with the most opportunities, because he knew about the morning run!"

Holly shook her head, not willing to go back around that circle again. "Come on, let's take this inside," she said, grabbing one side of the wood box again. The cop grumbled under her breath, but lifted the other side and they carried the bulky load up the steps and into the cabin. After they set it down by the fire, Holly flopped down on the sofa.

"It's got to be key, hasn't it?" she muttered, not even knowing if Gail was listening. The blonde was standing by the kitchen table, flipping through the pages of notes she had made over the past few days, all covering this same topic. "It's the only time where we can't really figure out how exactly it happened. Nobody told them we would be on the street, that it was just the two of us so we were vulnerable to attack. And we don't think they were watching the house. So how did they know where we would be?"

Gail grunted. "I don't know," she answered, scrawling down the question on her messy ream of notes. "It's not even like they tackled us outside your front door. We were a few streets away. It's a bit of a coincidence that we ran towards them," she pointed out.

Holly rolled over onto her stomach to watch the cop poring over her notebook. "How would you do it?" she idly asked. "As a cop, if you were trying to track someone down and nobody could tell you where they were, then how do you find your man?"

"Lots of ways. License plates, bank records, surveillance…but I guess firstly we'd try through their phone…" Gail softly replied, freezing stock still as she said it. "That was why I made you dismantle yours on the way here, so nobody could track it," Her cop brain went into overdrive as the answers suddenly hit her. She moved her lips ineffectually, the thoughts firing too quickly for her to recount verbally.

The brunette also saw it; "Shit! My phone was tapped right from the start. Was that to listen to my conversations or was it to keep tabs on where I was? Who ordered that?" she asked. If her phone was constantly being tracked, it would be easy for the gangsters to attack whenever they sensed a chance.

"McGregor did. He was in charge of that. He got us set up with all the technology; the listening device in your phone and five new ones for the team," the police officer began to explain, as she frantically scribbled it all down in an attempt to join the dots of the evidence. It was suddenly so clear and she didn't know how she had missed it for so long. She couldn't believe it was him. No wonder this hadn't made sense.

The pathologist hadn't seen the same link though and continued to muse out loud. "But McGregor knew where I was most of the time anyway. He didn't need to track my phone," she said.

"No, he didn't," Gail agreed absently, already two steps ahead of that. As she stared down at her scribbled notes, she replayed her last sentence in her mind and something else jumped out at her. _Five new ones…_

"Fuck! He sorted out new phones for all five of us! All of them!" she yelled, her eyes wide with understanding.

"What? McGregor?" Holly asked, not sure where the blonde was going.

Gail paced furiously across the room, turning near the window and retracing her steps over to the kitchenette. "All of them, Holly! All of them were bugged and tracked! That's why those goons attacked when they did, do you see?" she asked as she feverishly flipped through the pages. "They came at you when they thought your protection was light. At the court, they thought it was just you and Chen because McNally's phone was broken. I actually _was_ the only one there when we went running. And at the safe house…well they must have known me and Sanderson were there, but not McNally. Because she left her phone in Chen's car! But maybe they thought they could take two of us, with proper force. Fuck! They were watching all of us!" Gail's pacing stopped suddenly and she stared at Holly in disbelief. They had been spied on all along. In that moment, she understood exactly how the pathologist had felt when the two of them had argued about this earlier in the week.

The brunette was staring straight back, thinking hard. "But he would have known. He knew Andy's phone was broken. And he knew where we all were! Why track the phones, I don't understand?" she asked.

"What? Who?" the cop replied, completely confused. She had thought Holly had followed the same train of thought that she had and come to the same conclusion - but clearly not.

"McGregor!" Holly cried out. _Who the hell did Gail think she was talking about?_

"No. It's not him," answered the blonde, finally realising where Holly had gone wrong. "We got it wrong. Nobody was feeding Kolarov's gang information all the way through; the sell out was right at the start of this. There were trackers in everyone's phone and his gang had access so they just followed the information they got from that. Every attack was opportunistic…until the safe house," she explained. Holly shook her head, still not seeing it.

"It's the IT guy, Hols. Liam; he's the one who sold us out. He set up the phones and he bugged them. He knew he wasn't going to be around after that first day, so he set it all up and then helped them monitor us from whatever shithole he crawled into back in Vancouver,"

Understanding dawned across the doctor's face. She knew who Gail meant…though she wasn't sure where the name Liam came from. "Niall! His name was Niall. And that's how they knew where the safe house was; they would have seen all our phones there and drew the sensible conclusion," she deduced.

"I don't care what his name is. He's a fucking dirty cop," Gail yelled, stomping around the kitchen with her arms flailing about as everything fell into place. Holly watched her, slightly in awe. The blonde was usually so still and composed. It was unusual to see her agitated enough for her body language to become so expressive.

Gail tossed her notes back onto the table as she continued her rant; "But yeah, either they watched the phones or he told them. Because he had already been to the safe house too. The blind spot in the security system wasn't just sloppy, it was deliberate. And I bet he sabotaged the panic button,"

"It was planned from the start. He did all that before he went back to Vancouver, right? He wanted me to end up at the safe house because he had rigged up weak defences," Holly said, aghast at how carefully this had been orchestrated.

The cop came over and collapsed down onto the sofa next to Holly. "I don't know if that was the plan or if it was a backup in case they couldn't get to you before that," she shook her head. It all seemed so clear now, although there were certain holes in the theory that she couldn't quite explain. But they were right, she knew it; it must be Niall the IT guy. There was no other explanation that made sense. In fact, she couldn't believe that she hadn't worked it out before. "We're so stupid," she whispered not realising she was speaking her thoughts out loud.

"You're not stupid," Holly corrected her. "You figured it out!"

Gail grimaced. "It shouldn't have taken this long!" she replied. She replayed the theory in her head, worried that she could still be missing something because it had fallen into place so neatly.

"But we got there in the end. We know who it is now,"

"Talk me through it again," Gail suddenly said, turning towards the pathologist. "Tell me how it all happened, tell me how he did it. We need to be sure." She wanted Holly to run through it, knowing that when the evidence was recited out loud she would be more likely to see the holes. When she thought it through in her own head, she would plug them with her own logic but if she was going to accuse a serving police officer of corruption, then she needed to be one hundred per cent sure.

The brunette obliged, repeating Gail's conclusions, detailing the sequence of events and pointing out where the technician could have set them up. The cop nodded along, only interjecting a couple of times but it all seemed to make sense. It had to be him. He had bugged all their phones, given the tracking info to Kolarov's gang who then had the inside knowledge they needed to dive in when they saw their chance. And he had deliberately messed up the security at the safe house, providing a sure fire final opportunity to get at the doctor if things went that far. She clenched her fists, white hot anger coursing through her as she thought about how a fellow cop could set someone up like that. Holly could have been killed. Any of the protection officers could have been killed. Gail felt a momentary twist of guilt as she realised she had been convinced McGregor was the guilty party, but actually he had been just as much in danger as the rest of them.

"What if we're wrong?" she asked suddenly, as the brunette came to the end of her explanation. It had only occurred to her just then that if she had been mistaken about McGregor, she might still be messing this up. It seemed too obvious to not be true but if it had been that obvious, surely she would have seen it sooner?

"It has to be him," Holly answered, with a shake of her head. She turned round on the sofa to face Gail, truly believing that they had the answer they had been seeking for days.

"It makes sense…." The blonde started, breaking off when the idea came to her. There was a way of proving their conclusion. Once they had done that, she could report the corrupt tech officer with a completely clear conscience, no doubt in her mind. And he would deserve everything he had coming to him.

"We could test the theory," she told Holly slowly, not sure how dangerous it would be.

"Do we need to?" shot back the pathologist.

"If I'm wrong and I report this Liam idiot, then all it will do is tip off the cop who is actually corrupt to everything. Where we are, what we know…it could put you in more danger," Gail explained, caution seeping into her mind even as she thought that one through. She needed to be certain or else things would be even worse for Holly. And Gail couldn't stand it if that was because of her. She wouldn't put Holly in that position; she _couldn't_ put Holly in that position.

"What are you thinking?" asked the brunette as she reached out a hand and gripped Gail's knee, startling the cop a little.

"We could turn your phone back on. Make a call or two. Then see if anyone shows up to check it out. That way we know that it's the phone data they are using to keep track of you. And if it is, then it can only be that guy," she suggested.

Holly clutched her leg a little tighter. "Isn't that kind of risky?" she asked, nervously.

"I'll go a long way from here. I won't actually guide them to where you are. And then once we know for certain, it'll be safe to bring in the cops," Gail explained.

However, the pathologist shook her head. "I don't just mean risky for me, I mean for you as well! I don't want you using yourself as bait, Gail!" she argued.

The blonde grabbed Holly's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I'm not going to. I'll stay out the way and just watch, I'm not going to tackle anyone on my own," she promised.

"All because you want to double check what you already know?" the doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have to be sure. Get this wrong again and we're in real trouble,"

"What if nobody shows up?" Holly enquired, making the blonde sit back and pause for a second.

"Then it's not the phones and therefore maybe not the IT guy. So then we just have to go back to our original plan and sit tight until the trial starts. Once your sister takes the stand then Kolarov has nothing left to protect. It should be safe to go back, I think," Gail explained.

She noticed how Holly was chewing her lip, nervous at the plan and the fact that Gail could only say that she 'should' be safe. The cop wanted to give her better assurances than that, but if they were wrong about this and someone else had sold them out then she really wasn't sure how they could fix this. She would have to blow everything wide open and bring in Internal Affairs to find the corrupt cop. Whilst they were doing their job, she didn't know what would happen to Holly. It seemed unlikely she would be able to just get on with life as normal; but police protection couldn't last forever. And then there was the outcome of Kolarov's trial to worry about. It was all well and good if they achieved their original goal of protecting the Stewart family long enough to ensure Kate's testimony…but then what? There was still the possibility Kolarov might not be found guilty. Steve had seemed pretty sure they had everything they needed to convict him but Gail knew from experience that trials didn't always go as planned. Would the gangster be looking for revenge if he was freed? Or even if he was jailed; would his followers seek to retaliate? The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose. All these 'what ifs' were giving her a headache. The only thing she could do right now was take it one step at a time and do what she could to keep Holly safe. And the first thing was to get rid of the gang's mole in the police force.

Holly tugged at her lightly, making Gail realise she still had a grip on the brunette's hand and distracting her from her worried thoughts.

"If we just stay hidden, then they're going to turn their attention back to my family, aren't they?" Holly quietly asked. "They will put more pressure on this Niall guy to go poking around the systems to find where they are,"

The cop pondered that as she rubbed her thumb over the back of Holly's hand. "Maybe," she conceded. "We're easier to find though. Like I said, it's virtually impossible for normal cops to get access to the official Witness Protection Programme,"

"But this guy isn't just a normal cop. He's an IT specialist, right? So he doesn't just set up phones and cameras - it's his job to hack into systems and crack codes, isn't it?" the brunette persisted.

Gail's eyes widened, abruptly seeing what the pathologist meant. If they were right and the tech guy was the one then actually, everyone was more at risk. She still thought it was unlikely the Stewarts could be found…but there were half a dozen more ways that she and Holly could be tracked if this guy had a free run at the records system. What was to stop him looking up Gail's friends; finding Oliver's cabin or Chris's truck? Suddenly, she felt far more vulnerable than she had in the last few days.

"Yeah. You're right – it does give us more to worry about," she admitted, still holding Holly's hand tightly.

The brunette looked straight back at her and although Gail caught her swallowing hard, her gaze was steadfast. "We'd better do it then. Test the theory and see if we can catch this guy. So what's the plan?" she asked in a matter of fact tone and Gail grinned at her. This woman never ceased to amaze her.

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 **A/N 2: ...figuring out who the bent cop is of course? How else did you think they'd spend their time?! Minds out the gutter people, minds out the gutter.**

 **As ever, thanks again to Kravn for a superb job beta reading this.**


	23. Chapter 23

_This was supposed to be simple_ Gail thought, as she huddled closer to the air vent and tried to stay out of sight of the men below. The brick wall around the edge of the roof provided her with some cover but despite dropping down to her knees and only poking the top of her head over the barrier to see what was happening, she still felt dreadfully exposed. There were at least twelve thugs standing in a loose semi -circle in the parking lot of the diner across from her and she knew there were still a couple more roaming around the town.

She had picked this place hours earlier because the setup had seemed perfect. The town wasn't too far from the main road and had a couple of ways in and out of it. Although it was pretty small, there was a diner, a few shops, a school and even a church hall of some kind; plus the building where she was currently camped out on - a tiny library. She had left their cabin at the crack of dawn and drove through a few places before settling on this one to test their 'phone tap theory'. The town was far enough away to not give the corrupt IT tech any clue of where she and Holly were really hiding and its close proximity to the main road would make it look like they were perhaps travelling elsewhere had stopped off for food.

Gail had tucked Chris' Jeep away on one of the side roads before strolling down to the diner where she bought herself two milkshakes and two orders of fries. She then purposely asked the teenage boy behind the counter plenty of questions about the Greyhound bus stop further down the road; what time the next one would arrive and where it was headed. Gail was hoping that when the gangsters did show up and asked questions, they would assume she and Holly had both been here but had both caught a bus out of town.

After polishing off both cartons of fries – because tossing one would have been a waste – Gail put Holly's phone back together and made a quick call from the parking lot of the diner to the front desk of Fifteen. She had spent a minute confusing the desk clerk by asking him to take down completely random messages for the likes of Chris and Andy. If Kolarov's gang could still listen to the calls made from this phone, she assumed they would have lots of fun trying to work out the meaning behind "The reign of the Ice Queen is coming to an end; she has joined the red bandit and travels in a southerly direction." However she hoped that if Chris did get the message, even though he wouldn't understand it, he would at least figure out it was from her and know she was okay. Of course, if all went to plan and her theory was proven, she would be seeing him soon anyway.

Gail had only stayed on the line long enough for the call to be traced before hanging up and making herself comfortable on the top floor of the library. She dragged an armchair over to one of the front windows of the two storey building and grabbed a book to pretend she was here for a reason. She then spent the next hour or so staring at the diner to see if anyone showed up.

Sure enough, eventually two cars had roared into town and screeched to a stop at the diner. Gail was an experienced enough cop to know that whilst stereotypes were often wrong, they were also often completely right too and the guys that spilled out from the vehicles simply looked like gangsters. Most of them were dark, wiry, hard looking men and they didn't hesitate in bursting into the diner and checking the place out. Gail observed them talking to the staff behind the counter and was pleased when they had a lengthy chat with the kid she had laid a false trail with earlier. She sat in the window, hidden from sight by the sunlight reflecting off the glass, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. She and Holly were right. Kolarov's gang had been chasing them through the phone and the dirty cop therefore had to be Niall the technician.

Once the goons fell for the suggestion that she had taken a bus out of town, she expected that to be the end of it - that they would leave as well. However, the men had regrouped in the car park and started to fan out in different directions across the town. She had watched them enter nearby shops and deduced that they were under order to check everywhere. But when two of them made their way towards the entrance of the library, she knew she had to make herself scarce. She had abandoned her book and hightailed it through a door marked 'staff only'. The room she found herself in was clearly a storeroom of some kind, packed with boxes of books and old shelving. But when she saw the steps to access the roof, she decided that would be a far better hiding place as it would still give her a vantage point. She was pleased to note there was also a metal fire escape that she could use if she needed another exit plan.

Even though she felt safer in her new hiding spot, she was worried that the old busy body who had been manning the front desk, would rat her out. The librarian had insisted on checking on her a few times in the last hour, asking if she needed help in finding anything in particular. Gail had sent her away with a polite "no thank you," every time, yet she knew the woman was curious about the out of town stranger who had settled down in her library. If the gang members asked the librarian whether she had seen Gail, there was no way of stopping her from confirming that she had spent an hour or so sitting there. However, the bus out of town had left ten minutes ago and so with a bit of luck they would assume she was killing time before boarding. Maybe the librarian would just think she had missed Gail leaving.

Whatever the old lady told them, the heavies quickly exited the library within a couple of minutes. Though Gail didn't hear them check the store room below she opted to stay perched on the roof to watch the men scour the town for her. She saw reinforcements arrive in the shape of two more cars and she couldn't help but worry about how serious these guys were. Sending this much man power clearly showed how badly they wanted to get to Holly. She guessed that with only four days until the trial started and all of the Stewart family completely off the grid, they thought this was their last chance. She really hoped they weren't going to spend all day searching the town. If they checked the library again and saw the 'staff only' door, she would be in serious trouble if they came up to the roof. She really didn't want to get into another fight with these guys – her luck could only last so long.

Gail shuffled uncomfortably as the cold concrete behind her back brought her attention back to the present. She patted the second phone in her jeans pocket; the one that wasn't dismantled. She had finally succumbed to temptation yesterday and bought a couple of cheap burner phones. She knew they would be apart for most of the day and she wanted a way to keep in touch with Holly. It was partly selfish; she knew she would be able to focus on her job better if she knew Holly was okay. But more importantly it would stop the brunette from worrying if Gail could send her frequent updates on what was happening. She had already fired off a couple of quick text messages to inform her girlfriend that the gang had showed up but she was absolutely fine.

She decided to send another short message to let Holly know she was waiting for the coast to clear so she could return to their cabin and hoped the pathologist wasn't too stressed out. Gail had been worried about leaving her girlfriend all alone but had finally decided it was safer not to bring her closer to the people hunting her down. And she knew the pathologist was terrified about Gail being in that sort of danger. They had spent all yesterday talking it through; really talking this time, not arguing. It seemed the fight they had earlier in the week about trying to separate Gail's job from their relationship had done some good because they had actually managed to listen to one another and agree on a plan of action. The cop didn't have to order Holly to stay behind; they had agreed to it. However, judging by the long and fierce embrace Holly had given her before she left, the way the brunette had been chewing on her lip and how she had made Gail promise to stay safe, Holly was clearly terrified something was going to happen. And so she knew that regardless of the number of text messages she sent to ease Holly's fear, it wouldn't change the fact that her girlfriend would still be worried to death.

Nevertheless, there was nothing Gail could do now except wait it out. They surely couldn't have many more places in this small town to check out? However, a shout from below made her jump and she raised her head once more to check out the scene below. Two guys were running back toward the diner and yelling towards the tall, thickset man that Gail had already figured out was in charge.

"Boss!" one of them called in an accented voice. "There's a car parked up round the corner. It belongs to Diaz!"

"Shit," Gail swore under her breath. That was going to complicate things. She briefly wondered whether they had already known she was in Chris' Jeep or whether they had just gathered info on all of her friends. Either way, now that they knew the Jeep was here they wouldn't believe she and Holly had skipped town on the bus. And they would continue to pull the place apart looking for her…

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Two hours later and it was starting to get chilly on the exposed roof. After the flurry of activity that commenced when the gang found Chris's Jeep, not much else had happened. They continued to search through the town and from what Gail could see from her vantage point, they had been back into the diner to speak to the boy again. Surprisingly though, nobody returned to the library to confirm the librarian's story. Gail had expected them to make a more thorough search of the building and that she would have to make a run for it down the fire escape. She desperately tried to figure out how she could get out of town without going back to the Jeep and eventually settled on the idea of pulling her badge and gun on a local civilian and making them give up their vehicle. But that was a plan fraught with potential pit falls and she had no idea how to do it quickly and quietly.

However, as nobody had come back to the library, she was sticking with the 'watch and wait' plan. In an interesting development, two local police officers had showed up fifteen minutes ago and had spent a long time deep in conversation with the leader of the crew. Gail couldn't hear the conversation from where she sat watching, but she guessed that the cops were asking him to move on. It was likely that one of the locals would have called in to report the fact there was a dozen strange men stomping around the town. Although it wasn't illegal to park up and ask questions, the local cops would know something was amiss and would be keen to get the shifty looking men off their turf. Sure enough, not long afterwards, the thugs piled into their vehicles and drove away, watched carefully by both the officers in the parked cruiser and the blonde cop secretly perched on the roof above their heads.

Gail's relief was cut short however when she realised one car lingered in the diner's parking lot. Two guys remained standing alongside it and she also knew there was at least two more out there in the town somewhere, having not counted enough men leave. It seemed that although the local cops had managed to get the majority of the thugs to leave, they couldn't stop some of them from hanging around and that the final few guys had been left behind to watch out for Gail or Holly. Still, four was a far easier number to deal with than a dozen. Gail was already formulating a new plan when the two men entered the diner once again. She watched as they ordered food and sat down near the window. Even from a distance she could tell that their burgers were mainly been ignored in favour of watching the comings and goings of the car park.

Gail knew that now was the best time to move. If she could get down the fire escape whilst the pair were still perched in the diner, then she would only have two thugs unaccounted for as she made her way through town. She assumed that they were watching the Jeep, so as long as she avoided that area then she should be okay. But the longer she stayed where she was, the greater the chance that more gangsters would slip back into town. As she thought about it, a gust of wind blew across the roof making her shiver. She flexed her fingers which were slightly numb from the cold; yep, time to go before she turned into a human popsicle. Gail shuffled across the roof, keeping low just in case the guys happened to look upwards. She squeezed herself back through the door and was halfway down the metal staircase when the storeroom door began to slowly creak open. She froze, completely exposed on the steps. There was only one thing she could do but as she whipped her hand towards the gun holstered under her arm, a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"You can come down now. But I don't want any trouble, you hear?"

The storeroom door finally swung fully open to reveal the librarian who had been hassling Gail earlier. The grey haired woman was maybe in her mid-sixties, but she held herself ramrod straight and Gail could see there was a steely strength in her hazel eyes. The hands which were gripping what looked like a heavy ornate paperweight were rock steady and there was no trace of fear in the low voice.

"Are you planning on hitting me with that thing?" Gail asked, eyeing up the glass globe the other woman held at shoulder height.

"If I have to," came the determined reply. "But I think it would be better for both of us if you just left now, don't you? Like I said, I don't want trouble,"

Gail relaxed a little and took a few more steps down the stairs, pausing when the librarian rocked back on her heels. This woman may have balls but the cop knew she was frightened nonetheless.

"I'm not going to give you any trouble. I'm a cop, see?" the blonde announced. She slowly reached into her back pocket and pulled out her badge, displaying it to the nervous woman in the doorway.

"Throw that over here," was the only reaction she got, so Gail gently tossed her badge over and the librarian caught it deftly with her free hand. She examined it carefully before Gail could see the tension leave her shoulders. She let the door click shut behind her as she walked over towards Gail and gave her the badge back.

"Officer Peck," she said, as she handed it over.

"Hi," answered Gail. "You can put that down now," she suggested, nodding at the paperweight as she was still somewhat nervous about getting her brains bashed in with what looked like a crystal ball containing an ugly plastic dolphin.

The librarian shrugged and placed the globe on a nearby shelf. "So you're a cop. But you're from the city, not from around here," she said, still sounding a little suspicious.

"Gail Peck, 15th Division, Toronto Police Service. And you are, ma'am?"

"Lillian Walker. I'm the head librarian here. Well, I'm really the only librarian, I have a couple of high school kids who do some hours and there's Mr Peterson who retired from the school last year but they're not the ones who run the place…"

"Ms Walker…" Gail said, trying to interrupt the rather unnecessary explanation of the workings of this small town book archive.

However, the other woman butted right back in; "You can call me Lil, everybody does. Apart from the little ones who call me Ms Lil, but you're a smidge too old for that,"

"Right. Well ma'am….Lil….you're right. I do need to be going. Is there a back way out of here?" she asked hopefully.

"Wait, as you've spent hours on my roof you should at least tell me what's going on!" Lillian protested. "Now I'm glad you're one of the good guys, I truly am. I thought as much but you never really know. But that bunch who were skulking round earlier – who are they? Are they criminals? Were you watching them?" she fired the questions out one after the other, fast enough to make Gail's head spin.

Not wanting to get into the story, the blonde ignored the questions and asked one of her own, wondering if her cover had been blown after all; "How did you know I was up on the roof?"

Lillian laughed. "I was watching you of course! I've never seen you round these parts before yet you spent an hour sitting over by the window without once glancing at the book in your hand – which by the way is a classic and should be read cover to cover with a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates. Then you suddenly raced through the 'staff only' door like your hair had caught fire! What sort of custodian would I be if I wasn't suspicious?"

Gail blinked in surprise at hearing her surveillance wasn't as subtle as she'd thought but before she could respond, the older woman was off again.

"I was going to follow you, but then I thought you might be stealing something so I was going to ring the police. Before I could, those men burst through the door asking if I had seen any strange women in here today," she explained.

"What did you tell them?" the cop asked urgently, although as nobody had come marching up to the roof after her, she already knew the answer to that.

"That nobody had been in of course!" Lillian answered smartly.

"Thanks," Gail said slowly. "I appreciate that,"

"So why are they looking for you? You're the police, shouldn't it be the opposite way round? You hunt down the criminals, they don't hunt you?"

"I'm watching them," Gail told her, settling for the simplest and half true explanation. "But it seems like they knew I was watching, so then they tried to find me,"

"They asked about you and another woman. A tall, dark haired girl with glasses they said. Is that your partner?" asked Lillian.

"Yeah…" Gail agreed, although she didn't mean it in the way it had been asked. "She's not here though, it's just me,"

"Well I told them I hadn't seen anyone who didn't live in this town for weeks," Lillian said, sounding rather proud of herself.

Gail nodded her thanks once more but couldn't help asking; "Why? I'm grateful, I really am but why did you lie for me?"

"I didn't like the way he looked, or his tone. He was rude. At least when you arrived, you said hello and you were very polite when I asked if I could help you. He just marched in with his musclebound friend and barked questions at me. And so loud too! Didn't he read the rules on the front door? I'm not having people come into my library and be rude to me! Anyway, I thought maybe he was an abusive ex-lover you were hiding from, or you had escaped a cult, or ran away from your mafia connected family in order to avoid an arranged marriage…" Lillian's speech sped up as she listed all the different possibilities for Gail hiding out on the library roof and the cop's eyed widened. She thought Holly could babble, but this woman was something else entirely.

"That's quite an active imagination you have," she deadpanned, stopping the shorter woman in her tracks.

"I work in a library. I'm surrounded by stories every day. What do you expect? But never mind that. When I looked out front and saw a whole gang of them, I knew they were real trouble. I called the police and asked Hal Epping to deal with them. He's a good boy you know, he often volunteers to read for the children's hour on Friday. Does an excellent Cat in the Hat…" the elderly woman smiled, warming to her topic despite going completely off tangent.

"You called the cops? Did you tell them I was here?" Gail asked, not really wanting to have to explain the situation to some small town cop who was probably more used to stopping the local kids shooting airguns at road signs than dealing with East European gangsters.

"Well apparently Tom from the grocery and Mandy at the drugstore had already reported it but yes, I called them. I didn't tell them about you though. Come on then, what did they do? There were a lot of them. It must be something big? Are you putting them under surveillance so you can arrest them?" Lillian's questions were unrelenting.

"How do you work in a library when you talk this much?" Gail wondered out loud before the frosty stare she was subjected to made her gulp.

"I won't have any cheek from you young lady, police officer or not!" Lillian reprimanded her.

"Sorry," the blonde apologised quickly. "Look, it's sort of an undercover operation, so I really can't tell you. But thank you for covering for me and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone I was ever here," she suggested, hoping that she wouldn't be the talk of the town by the time she had even made it past the boundary.

"You can rely on me, Officer Peck!" the grey haired lady assured her, puffing up with importance.

"Great. Thanks," Gail replied, desperately fighting the urge to roll her eyes. _Civilians, honestly._ Still, now was not the time to piss off the local busybody. "So, is there a back way out of here? Because I need to avoid those idiots that are still hanging round,"

"Of course. There's a back door. Where have you parked your car?" Lillian opened the store room door again and motioned for Gail to follow her.

The blonde started to do so, nervously checking around her as she left the room. "Um, no car," she said distractedly as she tried to catch a glimpse of the front entrance. She turned back around just in time to avoid bumping into the librarian who had stopped in her tracks between two book shelves. Gail adjusted her assessment of the woman's age as she got a closer look at her, under the bright lights. Ms Lil was closer to seventy, if not past that age.

"You don't have your police car?" she queried, sounding shocked.

"Yeah, not today. No car. It's a long story," answered the cop.

"So how exactly are you planning on leaving then?" Lillian asked, arching an eyebrow.

Gail frowned. She didn't really know the answer to that, unless she resorted to her initial plan of commandeering a vehicle. She remembered joking about that with Holly when they had made their escape from the safe house. It seemed so long ago…and she still didn't know whether she was actually allowed to do that or not. "Do you have a car?" she asked, with what she hoped was a winning smile.

"Yes,"

"Can I borrow it please?"

"No!"

"What?" Gail asked, shocked at the refusal.

"No, you may not borrow my car. I need that car to get home tonight! Are you really going to leave an elderly lady in a town full of dangerous criminals with no method of transport?" rebuked the librarian, shaking her head in disappointment.

"As an officer of the law, I am able to legally commandeer your vehicle, ma'am. Please hand over the keys. I will make sure it's returned as soon as possible and your local force gets you home safely," Gail brazened.

"No, you're not. There is no law enabling you to do that. I don't _have_ to hand over my vehicle. Under Section 129 of the Canadian Criminal Code you could arrest me for omitting to assist an officer in executing his or her duty, if you believe I have no reasonable excuse. But that's quite tenuous to be honest. My defence would of course revolve around the fact that I do have an acceptable excuse, and also you must give reasonable notice. I believe asking me just before you bolt out the door is not reasonable," Lillian explained.

"Why are you saying all these words?" Gail groaned, having yet another Holly flashback, this time to the day they first met. Lillian simply flashed her own sweet smile. "Fine. I'll arrest you for that then," snapped the cop.

"No, dear. You'll notice that the article refers to 'omitting to assist'. And I am not refusing to assist you, I'm just refusing to lend you my car. Of course I will assist you as best I can in other ways," came the reply.

Gail gave the shorter woman a hard stare which was returned openly. _This one's a smart cookie_ , she thought suspiciously. She could imagine Holly behaving exactly like this in thirty or forty years and had to fight back a smile at that thought in order to maintain her questionable authority over this situation. There wasn't really time to carry on arguing the point of legality – particularly when she was losing. "You read too much," she told the grey haired fire cracker in front of her.

Lillian shrugged. "I taught law at UOT for thirty years before I retired and came back to my home town,"

 _Brilliant,_ thought Gail. But before she could reply, Lillian was talking again. "So, do you want a ride out of town then, or not?"

The cop considered the offer for all of five seconds. "Yes please ma'am," she said.

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Cold, wet and fatigued, Gail finally turned down the track leading to Oliver's cabin around four hours later. It was dark now and her legs were starting to tire so she stumbled over the loose rocks and slipped around on the clay like mud. Lillian Walker had smuggled her out the rear of the library, into the back seat of her car and driven straight past the thugs that were camped in her small town. The librarian had then agreed to drive her another hour out of town and towards the cabin. This journey had given her time to use her new phone to make a quick phone call to Chris Diaz. She was worried that as Kolarov's people knew his car and Holly's phone had been in the same location, they might be sending some of their boys round to ask questions. She hoped that they only knew the details of the Jeep because it was registered to her home address, and not because they were checking up on all of her known associates. Because if the latter was the case, then they might stumble across the record of Oliver's cabin too. However, as they had not seen any signs of danger at the cabin, it seemed likely the gangsters had only known about the Jeep and had noticed it was missing, putting two and two together.

As soon as he heard her voice Chris had been desperate to know where Gail was. However, she had cut off all of his questions and explained that the guys she was hunting down knew she had his Jeep. She advised him to keep low for the rest of today and not to stay at the apartment. Chris had promised to do so and also told her that sure enough, he and Dov had spotted some men watching their place but neither of them had been approached. He also said that the whole division knew what work she had been doing for the past month or so now and that she had gone missing with a witness. Everyone had been told to look out for her and report any contact immediately. Steve had been going crazy, fighting against his superiors when they suggested Gail should be treated as a suspect. Mindful of Lillian being beside her, the blonde didn't give out too many details before she hung up but she asked him to keep quiet for now and promised to call again soon.

She had then made a slightly longer call to Holly, reassuring her that she was on the way home and everything was okay. The relief in the brunette's voice had been palpable and Gail had wanted nothing more than to fly over the miles to get home right away and wrap herself in her girlfriend's arms. The soft tone in her voice didn't go unnoticed by the librarian who had asked her about her "someone special". Gail had hesitated; still a little shy about her feelings for Holly. But for some reason, telling a stranger seemed easier than sharing them with the people she knew. And being apart from the gorgeous pathologist for the day meant she had spent most of her time thinking about her and she couldn't help those thoughts spilling over and bursting out. So in a move that was completely out of character, Gail had poured out everything. She couldn't be entirely truthful about how they had met or what they were doing now without letting slip the Kolarov story. So instead she explained how she had been surprised to have this crush on the doctor and how she had fought her feelings. Then she told Lillian about how smart Holly is, and how beautiful, and how funny. She told her about how Holly likes to fold her potato chip bags into little triangles after she had emptied them, and how she would sing softly in the kitchen when she thought no one could hear, and how she always drank her coffee with both hands wrapped round the mug to warm them up, and how she never, ever managed to button a shirt all the way up.

Even Ms Lil was quiet in the face of Gail's rambling so those forty five minutes flew by. That was until Lillian pulled over to drop her off at a convenient point.

"You should drop by the library again, Officer Peck. Bring your Holly with you, because if she's amazing as you say, I'd like to meet her," the older woman had said.

"She is," Gail smiled. "I'll ask her. But things are a little crazy right now," she answered, trying to let Lil down gently. Although she now knew for certain who had sold them out and she could get it dealt with, they were still in trouble. The trial was coming up and then they would go back to work…Gail wasn't sure what that would mean for them. They may have made their relationship official, but there was still that nagging doubt that real life would somehow ruin things.

"Oh, it doesn't have to be any time soon! Next week, next month…next year if you'd like. You'll have time, dear. You have all the time in the world when you're in love," Lillian had replied.

Gail's eyes had nearly popped out of her head at that one. "Er…yeah. We're not…you know…it's not…" she flapped inarticulately, feeling the blush rise through her cheeks.

"Not what?"

"Well we haven't known each other long. I'm not…she's not," she had stumbled over her words again, not knowing how to tell the librarian that she was way, way off base with that statement.

"Don't be silly, Gail. Of course you are," Lil had said in a matter of fact tone.

"No, I'm not!" the cop had argued, starting to panic a little.

"Yes you are. Maybe you don't know it yet and that's fine. But when you figure it out, you come visit me so I can say I told you so," and with that, Ms Lil clicked the door shut behind Gail and left her standing by the side of the road as she span the car round and headed back to her home town.

Gail stood there open mouthed before giving Lil a wave that was a little too late. "Thank you!" she yelled after the retreating car, knowing she would have been in trouble without the other woman's help.

Soon afterwards, she hitched a ride for another hour down the road before getting dropped off five miles from the cabin. Although she knew exactly what the threat was now, she still didn't want anyone coming too close to their hideout. As dusk began to sweep in, she used the first mile of the walk to call Steve to explain everything. She told him about Niall the IT guy and he promised to action it immediately. She didn't know what his plan was, but she knew she could trust her brother to deal with the corrupt tech. Despite trusting him completely however, she still didn't tell Steve where she and Holly were staying. She simply promised to call him later so they could catch up again and if everything was sorted out then she would come back to the city.

Gail didn't know why she hadn't told her brother. He could have arranged for them to be picked up and whisked away somewhere within a couple of hours. But the cabin still felt safe. More than that; it felt like home. She knew that was silly…they had only been there for a week. But a lot had happened in that week. The two of them had grown impossibly close and had cemented their relationship into official status. It was where Holly had become her girlfriend and it was where she had completely and irrevocably fallen for the beautiful brunette. So if she was honest with herself, she just wanted to spend a few more hours on her own with Holly, before she invited half of Fifteen Division and an entire Vancouver protection team invade the cosy nest they had built for themselves.

So after hanging up with the elder Peck and turning the phone off, she picked up the pace and tried to hurry home to her girl, which was around the same point that the Gods decided to intervene. The clouds rolled in, the heavens opened and the rain came down in a torrential deluge that had her soaked to the skin within ten minutes. She half walked, half jogged those last miles, struggling to see through the rain and feeling her steps get heavier with every stride. The rain hammered against her body for an hour, cold and sharp, and she slowly lost feeling in her fingers, toes and face. As she finally trudged round the corner onto the track that led to the cabin her teeth started to chatter and the icy water in her boots squelched uncomfortably. Yet none of that mattered upon seeing the warm glow of the cabin and the door fly open before Holly launched herself down the track and into Gail's arms.

"Hey," the blonde said as she caught Holly and pulled her in tight.

"You're back," she mumbled into Gail's neck as the rain teemed down upon them.

"No shit, Sherlock," deadpanned the cop, her cheek earning her a swat on the arm although if her skin wasn't so damn cold then she would have also felt Holly grin slightly.

"Are you okay?" the pathologist asked.

Gail rolled her eyes. "I told you on the phone, Hols. I'm fine, they didn't come near me,"

"Just checking, Hedgehog," Holly replied and she pulled back to look the blonde straight in the eye to make sure she was okay. "It's raining!" she suddenly exclaimed as if she had only just noticed the water lashing against Gail's jacket and soaking through her own thin sweater.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Gail repeated, trying to put a sarcastic tone on but the shiver that ran through her body kind of ruined the effect.

The brunette grabbed Gail's hand. "God, you're freezing! Come inside," she said, pulling the police officer after her. They splashed through the rainwater and Holly slammed the wooden door shut behind them. She pushed Gail's leather jacket off her shoulders, leaving it in a sodden pool by the front door before dragging the blonde closer to the fire burning merrily in the hearth.

The police officer shuddered, inching further towards the warmth but not feeling it penetrate her frozen limbs yet.

"How far did you walk?" Holly asked, as Gail dropped to her knees directly in front of the fire and put her hands out towards the flames to try and warm them.

"Bout five miles. It wasn't raining when I ditched my ride," muttered the blonde, trying to control the shakes coursing through her.

"You should have called me! I could have met you halfway," chastised the doctor. She took a blanket from the couch and draped it round Gail's shoulders, rubbing her upper arms to dry her off and warm her up.

"Then you would have gotten wet too, Nerd!"

"I could have brought out some better clothes," Holly replied, justifying the idea and Gail had to nod at that. She hadn't thought of the raincoats that were tucked away in one of the storage boxes in the cabin.

"Yeah well," she muttered, rubbing her hands together. The heat from the fire wasn't really helping…if anything, she was getting colder.

Holly wrapped the blanket tighter. "But you were right, eh? It's the phone? And so it has to be the IT guy?"

"Yeah. They showed up an hour after I made the call. They must have had a trace on your phone and it lit up like a Christmas tree, so they drove straight to me,"

"Did you recognise them? Were they the guys from the jog, or the safe house?" the pathologist replied.

"I don't know, I didn't really see the safe house guys. But there were a lot of them. They really wanted to find you," Gail told her.

"That's scary," Holly frowned, thankful that her girlfriend didn't have to get mixed up with the gangsters today. "I'm glad your librarian friend helped you get out of there," she said.

"Me too. Guess I'm all about charming the librarian types these days!" laughed Gail, before another violent shudder rattled through her.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "And did you speak to your brother?" she asked.

"Yep. He's going to make sure Liam gets dealt with tonight. I'll call him in a few hours and see what's happening. If everything is okay, I can tell him where to find us and then the police will put us somewhere safe," Gail trailed off her explanation as her hands began to shake.

Holly noticed the tremors and knitted her eyebrows together as she ran her gaze over Gail, not bothering to correct her about the technician's name. "I'm going to make you a hot drink," she said. "You need to warm up. Stay there and get those boots and jeans off, I'll be right back,"

The blonde wanted to make a smart comment about Holly asking more nicely if she wanted to get her undressed, but the shivering was getting worse, so she simply nodded.

The pathologist got up and spent a couple of minutes making hot chocolate but when she came back to the living area, she immediately noticed that Gail had worsened. Her skin had turned a paler tone, she was shivering uncontrollably and her movements were sluggish as she fumbled ineffectually with the laces on her boots. Holly left the mugs on the side table and knelt down in front of her girlfriend.

"Okay, let's get you out of these," she said, pushing Gail's frozen fingers aside and untying the knots herself. As she pulled the first boot off, cold water sloshed out onto the floor, the icy temperature surprising Holly. Her own clothes were damp from her brief exposure to the weather but she hadn't realised quite how bad it was.

She looked up and saw the trembling blonde had her eyes closed. She was breathing slightly slower than usual and there was a distinct blue tinge to her lips. "Gail!" she yelled, grabbing the cop's knee and shaking it firmly.

Gail's eyes flew open, but she took a couple of seconds to focus on the concerned face in front of her.

"Right, we need to get you warmed up," Holly said firmly, worried that the blonde might be settling into mild hypothermia. "Come on, get up," she instructed, pulling her girlfriend to her feet. She manhandled Gail into the bathroom, and turned the shower on as high as it would go, filling the room with steam as she sat Gail down on the toilet. She yanked the blonde's saturated socks and jeans off, before pulling her t-shirt over her head.

"You're all steamed up," Gail said through her chattering teeth as she lifted an uncoordinated finger up to try and poke at the lenses of Holly's glasses. The brunette pulled the spectacles from her face and dropped them unceremoniously into the sink.

"Come on," she said. She turned the water temperature down so that it wasn't scalding before helping the blonde get into the shower, underwear and all. Gail gasped as the warm water hit her cold skin causing pins and needles to shoot through her. Her knees buckled and she would have fallen if Holly hadn't quickly stepped into the shower fully clothed and caught her in strong arms.

Gail felt cold rainwater run out of her long, blonde hair and down her back, making her flinch before it was replaced with warm water. She let the heat envelop her; the pins and needles diminishing as she got used to the warmth.

As Gail started to thaw out, Holly raised the water temperature and noticed that it had the desired effect – the blonde had stopped shivering and her normal skin tone was slowly returning. Upon realising her girlfriend was now supporting her own weight, Holly loosened her grip and plucked at her own sweater which was soaked straight through and now stuck to her body.

"Feeling better?" she asked and Gail nodded in response.

"Yeah. Hot water's nice,"

"Much nicer than walking five miles in a cold rain shower I imagine," replied the brunette, rubbing her hands up and down Gail's upper arms trying to judge if she had warmed up enough.

"I hope Chris's Jeep is okay," frowned the cop. She had asked Lillian to get her cop friends to tow the car, thinking Chris would rather pick it up from the pound than have Kolarov's gang get into it. It was debatable whether the cops would have good enough reason to but if anyone could persuade them, it would be Ms Lil.

"I hope Chris is okay!" Holly countered. "Are you sure they won't go looking for him now they think you've been in his car?"

The cop smoothed her hair back under the cascading water. "I warned him. He and Dov will stay at Price's tonight. And he said that people have been watching the apartment, but nobody had approached them. I think they only knew about his car because it's registered to our address. If they were looking into the backgrounds of all my friends, they would have found this place already," she explained.

Holly continued to run her fingers across Gail's skin, but this time the blonde stilled. When she gazed into blue eyes she saw that they were now clear and steady and looking straight at her. The doctor suddenly became acutely aware of how little Gail was wearing and as the water ran over their bodies, she couldn't help lower her eyes and give her girlfriend the once over. She swallowed and looked away trying desperately not to stare at Gail's smooth legs, flat stomach and glorious chest. Yet when she met the cop's eyes again she couldn't help leaning forward to crash their lips together.

They kissed under the cascading shower, tussling to avoid being directly under the water but occasionally having to break for air when they did get a face full. Holly rested one palm against Gail's cheek, guiding her to the exact angle she needed and ran the other one straight down the blonde's back. Gail shivered again, but this time for an entirely different reason. She moved her hands off Holly's hips and fisted them in the hem of her sweater. They pulled apart for a moment and the brunette took the chance to ask the question; "Are you still cold?"

"No. Definitely not," replied the cop. If anything she was altogether too hot now; the sensation of her bare skin pressed against Holly was doing all kinds of things to her and she wanted more.

"Are you sure?" Holly asked again, running one finger along the goosebumps she could see on Gail's shoulder, tracing the skin towards her neck and then down one collarbone.

The blonde groaned. Her goosebumps had nothing to do with her body temperature and everything to do with the heightened sense of awareness caused by Holly's touch. She didn't reply, instead she pulled at the sweater she still had grasped in both hands, yanking it upwards and over Holly's head. She tossed it aside where it hit the tiled floor with a wet slap. She caught a brief glimpse of the black bra and bare torso she had uncovered before the brunette was on her again, claiming her lips and pushing her back under the water. Gail couldn't say how long they spent there, lips locked together and hands roaming; all she knew was that the water was getting colder and when they broke apart, her hands had dipped into the waistband at the back of Holly's sweatpants and the doctor was cupping her breast, running her thumb over the most sensitive part.

"Water's getting cold," Gail gasped, before dropping another kiss on her girlfriend's inviting lips.

As she kissed Gail's jawline Holly smiled at the moan her actions elicited. "Yeah," she agreed, although she hadn't actually noticed, the fire inside her cancelling out the temperature of the water. But now that the cop had mentioned it she found she couldn't concentrate on what she wanted to do to her girlfriend, worried that she would get cold again. "We should stop," she said, reluctantly pulling back.

"We should," the blonde murmured her agreement but continued to kiss Holly and knead the smooth flesh under her fingers.

The pathologist let out a hiss of her own but managed to lean past Gail to shut off the water. They stood there, breathing hard and staring straight into one another's eyes; their bodies pressed together and both women loving the sensation of bare skin on skin as their hands explored one another.

"I should get out of these wet clothes. Go find us something warm to wear," Holly suggested, dark eyes betraying her - the last thing she wanted to do was put more clothes on.

Gail tried to be responsible as well, but her tone was so half hearted that she didn't even convince herself, let alone her girlfriend. "I should call my brother. Find out what's going on."

They paused for a beat before both of them surged forward to meet for another burning kiss.

The blonde finally wrenched her lips away to look at her girlfriend once more and the desire she saw written across the doctor's face made up her mind. She wanted this. She didn't want to wait any longer. She wanted to be with Holly, in every way possible.

"You could get out of those clothes here. And we could keep each other warm," she proposed.

"You could call Steve in the morning," Holly countered and Gail didn't bother to reply. She simply pushed at her girlfriend's sweatpants, easing them down until they fell and pooled at Holly's ankles. However as she pushed forward once more, the brunette laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, halting her for a moment.

"Are you sure?" she asked urgently. They had said they were going to take it slow and not rush the physical side of their relationship. She wanted to; God how she wanted to. But she didn't want to push Gail. And if they went any further, stopping would damn near kill her.

"Yes," was the simple reply from the cop, her voice full of certainty and desire.

Holly breathed a sigh of relief and felt her arousal course through her. "Good. Because I really want this. I want one night where it's just me and you," she explained, hoping Gail knew what she meant.

"Before half of Toronto and Vancouver's police forces descend on us, and we get thrown back into all the mayhem," Gail replied, knowing exactly what Holly was saying because she felt it too. "Just us, for a little bit longer?"

"Yeah. Sounds good," whispered the doctor.

"Then take me to bed, Holly," Gail commanded. And so the brunette did exactly that.

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 **A/N: Minds into the gutter this time people, minds into the gutter! Feel free to use your imagination to fill in what happens next. :)**

 **Thank you for all the reviews and comments you've sent me, I really enjoy reading them and hearing people's thoughts. Kudos to Saz, Charlie and the guest who picked out Niall the IT guy as the mole; well played folks, well played. Thanks again to Kravn too, who had the soul destroying task of picking though the tenses used in this chapter. Anything that is still out of whack is my fault, messing about with what she fixed! This one's a bit longer as well, to make up for the slightly shorter chapter I posted last time out!**

 **Hope you liked Ms Lil...I think she might pop up again somewhere, someday. Her character comes in no small part from the librarian at my old school. A proper firecracker! I changed her name though...the woman was a judge too at some point, I don't want to mess with her!**

 **Take it easy all, cheers,**

 **Sam**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Hiya. Today is a good day; mini eggs are back on the shelves for some bizarre reason and I played desktop ping pong at work. Marvellous! I'm pleased you guys seemed to enjoy that last chapter...and believe me, I was cheering when they finally got their groove on too.**

 **So, on with the story.**

 **This chapter contains a fair few chunks of dialogue that I have borrowed from the show. See if you can spot them all; there's even something from one of the webisodes….! Like I said at the start of this, it's just for fun so I hope the powers that be forgive me. Maybe see it as a homage, not plagiarism?!**

 **Thanks to Kravn for sorting out the parts that sounded like I had kangaroos loose in the top paddock! ;)**

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From the second she woke up, Gail could feel someone watching her. So when she opened her own eyes, it was no surprise to see dark brown orbs looking straight back at her.

"Watching me sleep, nerd? How very weird," she yawned.

"Watching you wake up actually. Because the sleeping was kinda boring. You know, in comparison to what else we could be doing," Holly replied, grinning that half smile of hers. Gail couldn't help but smile right back, proving once again that it was indeed contagious.

Her girlfriend winked and the cop blushed slightly. Last night had been amazing. Really, really amazing. Sure there had been a few awkward moments, but Holly had guided her through and it had ended up being incredible. Rock your socks, hold the front page incredible. So unbelievably fantastic in fact, that she couldn't help think about a repeat performance. And what better time than now?

She scooted nearer to the brunette and kissed her gently on the lips. "Morning," she said.

"Good morning," Holly whispered, returning the kiss and pulling her girlfriend closer still. Gail shuddered as bare skin pressed against bare skin but she soon recovered and rolled Holly over onto her back. She propped herself up on her elbow, her body flush against the pathologist's and she trailed her hand under the sheets and over the muscles of Holly's stomach. She dipped her head to kiss Holly's neck, mapping out the soft skin under her lips.

"Mmmmm," moaned the doctor as Gail's hand traced an imaginary line over one hip bone, across to the other and then down the inside of her thigh. Staying in the cabin and waking up with Gail every morning had been wonderful. But waking up with a very naked and very affectionate Gail? Even better.

"You know how we've been saying how wrong it is to enjoy being stuck here, all alone?" she queried, half focused on what she was trying to say and half focused on wrapping her arm around Gail's back and pulling her closer again.

"Hmm. Yeah. So wrong, yeah," the blonde mumbled, in between kisses.

"Well is it bad that I'm also kind of glad that you nearly got mild hypothermia last night?" Holly asked and then gasped when her girlfriend nipped at her trapezius.

The cop pulled back a little and pouted. "Yes. That's just mean," she said, but the amusement in her eyes gave her away.

"Sorry," replied the brunette. "But it turned out okay, right?"

"Oh yeah," agreed Gail. "If that's your standard treatment plan for hypothermia, I'm going to go out in the rain more often,"

"Please don't," Holly said, remembering that she had been pretty worried about the state Gail was in when she was shivering uncontrollably in front of the fire. "If you ever need warming up, you should just ask," she told her.

"Holly," Gail whispered, her voice low and husky.

"Yes?"

"I'm cold. Warm me up?" she said. Holly grinned and pushed the blonde backwards, settling herself on top of her.

"No problem," she replied before kissing her deeply.

Things were just getting heated when Gail's burner phone starting screeching. Its obnoxious ring tone bellowed across the room from where she had abandoned it on the bedside table last night. The fact the phone was ringing threw her somewhat, as nobody had that number apart from Holly. And she knew exactly where the girlfriend's hands were at that precise moment…they weren't anywhere near a phone, that was for sure. Her cop senses started tingling. However, no matter how curious she was, when faced with choosing between a mystery phone call and a hot, naked brunette wrapped around her doing rather magical things with her lips and tongue, it was an absolute no brainer. Curiosity could wait, arousal could not.

Unfortunately, the cheap cell phone didn't seem to share that particular life philosophy. With no voicemail service set up, the phone rang endlessly. Clearly whoever was on the other end, wasn't going to give up.

"Just answer it!" Holly groaned, pulling back and toppling sideways off Gail.

"They'll go away!" the police officer argued, reaching out for her once more.

"Answer it or stamp on it," replied the doctor, pushing Gail's hand away.

Gail groaned in frustration but flopped over to reach the phone. "It had fucking well better be the Queen of England because if anyone else is interrupting us, I am going to have serious words with them," she growled.

She swiped the screen before remembering this wasn't her own phone and this cheap, crummy thing had actual buttons. She jabbed the green button before yelling "What!?" at whichever poor soul had the misfortune to disturb them.

"Hey sis, how are you doing?" came Steve's voice.

"Fuck off!" she told him, and pushed the red button to end the call.

Before she could even roll back onto the bed, the phone rang again so she gave up and answered it immediately. "Can't you just go away? For like half an hour?" she pleaded. She heard Holly cough behind her and was pretty sure she heard "an hour" muttered through the spluttering.

"Sure. But we'll be at Oliver's cabin in about twenty minutes, so you may as well just talk to me now," Steve said.

Gail fought the urge to throw the phone out the window in frustration. _There_ _goes my morning plans_ she thought, chancing a glance at the brunette lying next to her. She whimpered when she saw that the sheet had been pushed halfway down the bed and Holly's torso was fully on display.

"I hate you," she told her brother vehemently, "How the hell do you know where we are?"

"I'm a detective, Gail. It's my job to figure things out,"

"Well it took you long enough. We've been here a week," she goaded him.

"Yeah, well after I got your call yesterday I pulled some of the team here together. Then Diaz finally admitted he had spoken to you twice as well, and that you had his Jeep. Everyone thought you'd ran on foot and were hiding in the city till Diaz came clean. Between the five of us, we only came up with a few options where you could be. Then when Oliver called his buddy at the fishing lodge up by the lake, he confirmed that he'd seen the Jeep drive past a couple of times…so we knew you'd be at Ollie's place," her brother explained, sounding rather too pleased with himself for what was really a simple piece of detective work.

"Call up Mensa, they need to get you guys on the membership list," Gail said scornfully.

"Took me longer to trace this phone number you were trying to keep private," he replied, "Make sure you tell them about that too, eh?"

"What's happening with the IT guy?" she asked, ignoring him.

"All sorted. I'll explain when we get there, because we've got a plan. Twenty minutes, be ready!" Steve told her and immediately hung up on her.

"Wait! Who's we? Hey!" Gail shouted at the dead line. He would pay for that later. She dropped the handset back onto the table and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"So, what did Her Royal Highness want? Or was it just a social call?" Holly asked, reaching out to stroke Gail's bare back.

"You'll find out yourself soon. The whole platoon of court jesters are on the way here. They'll be here in twenty," Gail replied as she stood up.

"What?" Holly exclaimed, grabbing the bed sheet and covering her body as if they were already there peering through the window.

"Yep," confirmed the cop. "I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to put some clothes on. I'm probably in enough trouble as it is. You might want to sort out that sex hair you've got going on as well," she said, pointing vaguely in the direction of the dark locks that were sticking out at all angles.

Holly tried to smooth a hand through her hair, finding tangles from root to tip. "That's your fault for taking me to bed with wet hair," she mumbled.

The comment made Gail laugh, despite the sudden feeling of dread that had settled over her at the thought of everyone turning up and it being the end of her and Holly's isolated bubble. She wanted to get everything sorted out; for Holly to be able to go back to her normal life and she herself to go back to whatever was in store after this prolonged bout of rule breaking. Yet she also wanted to stay here and spend lazy days down by the lake, cosy evenings in front of the fire…and passionate nights right here in this bed. She was sad about letting all that go. The way she felt right now about Holly was the most sure she had ever been about the two of them. Last night was almost like the final puzzle piece had fallen into place, but before she could settle down and really enjoy this new sense of belonging, she was being wrenched away from it. She shook her head; now wasn't the time to get into all that. Her brother and her friends were about to appear. She took one last chance to appreciate the gorgeous woman tucked up in her bed.

"Rain check though?" she asked, bending at the waist to kiss her girlfriend. As she pulled back, she whipped the sheet away and giggled at Holly's surprised yelp. She deliberately ran her eyes up the brunette's body, committing it to memory. "Definite rain check," she stated, before walking away in order to get dressed.

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"Peck! What the hell did you think you were playing at?" Allan McGregor yelled and Gail winced as the piercing voice shattered her happy reunion. Two police squad cars had pulled up the cabin minutes ago, and the blonde had been pleased to see not only Steve tumble out, but Chris, Traci, Andy, Oliver and Sam as well. She gave her brother a cursory nod and fist bump, which was pretty much the extent of their affection. But she couldn't avoid being wrapped up in hugs by the others, apart from Sam who stood aside after a brief hello, then stood watching the scene with his customary impassive stare.

She was only halfway through greeting her colleagues when an unmarked SUV also appeared and this time it was McGregor and Chen who stepped out. Without so much of a greeting, the sergeant had started yelling. Gail untangled herself from Oliver's bear hug and watched from the deck as the Vancouver man came marching up the steps to stand in front of her.

"Well? Explain yourself!" he commanded, but she didn't answer so the older cop continued his rant. "You dropped off the grid with our subject! Are you crazy? Why didn't you call in? You should have come straight back to Toronto once the danger was clear!"

Gail simply shrugged, embarrassed at being chewed out in front of the guys from Fifteen and not knowing where to start her defence. Her job was to keep Holly safe and that's what she did. But her apparent indifference that only served to fuel McGregor's rage.

"Jesus Christ! First we lose Sanderson, then you go rogue! I've never run another job that went so badly wrong…"

That statement woke Gail up out of her self pity. "What?" she asked, panic all over her face. She saw Holly go tense as well and knew her girlfriend was just as terrified. She hadn't asked Steve about Sanderson at all over their two phone calls, scared of what he might tell her. She had been hoping to grab Andy quickly and find out exactly how he was doing but then McGregor had started yelling. What did he mean by 'lose Sanderson'….surely he couldn't be saying the young officer was gone? The man hadn't responded to her interruption, so she pressed him again. "Tell me what happened, McGregor! What happened to Scott?" she asked urgently.

"You know what happened, Peck! You were there, before you disappeared off into the back of beyond, leaving us all to sort out your mess!" he replied, and the blonde clenched her fists, breathing hard and wanting to punch his silly, obtuse face. Holly touched the back of her arm gently and it was enough to stop her exploding. Luckily, McNally saw what both women were thinking and quickly intervened.

"He's alright, Gail. Scott's okay. He lost a lot of blood and it was touch and go, but he's on the mend. McGregor just mean we lost him from duty. He's been in hospital, but he's okay," Andy explained. Gail and Holly both visibly relaxed, sharing a look of relief.

"Thank God," whispered the doctor but soon enough McGregor was back on topic.

"Don't you have anything to say, Officer Peck?" he demanded and this time it was Oliver who stepped in.

"Okay, Allan, my man. I think you've made your point. We can all have ourselves a little debrief later. But right now, we all have things to do, right?" he said, walking over and throwing his arm round Gail's shoulder.

The blonde smiled weakly at him, nodding her thanks for his intervention.

"Oliver. This is Holly," she said, indicating the brunette stood at her side. "Holly; this is Oliver Shaw. This is his place. And that's Traci, Sam, Chris and Steve - my brother," she continued, gesturing at each person in turn and introducing her girlfriend to them although Holly had met a couple of the cops before.

"Hi," Holly said, almost shyly. "Thanks for letting us stay here Oliver,"

"You're welcome, darling. I didn't know about it but if I did, you'd still have been welcome!" he replied drily, breaking the awkward silence that had settled over the group.

"So, what happened with the IT guy?" Gail asked her brother, hoping the corrupt bastard was locked up somewhere suitably horrible by now.

"Ah! Good call on that one sis. Based on your tip off, we looked into his finances and got enough for a warrant. Ross and his team ripped his flat apart last night and found reams of information on Holly and the protection team. When we confronted him, he sang like a bird. Yet more evidence against Kolarov and the boys!" Steve told her, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Yeah well he's lucky I wasn't in Vancouver. I owe the scumbag an ass kicking," the blonde said.

"You'd have to get in line," Jake Chen piped up from the corner, in a dark tone.

"You guys hold him, I'll hit him," suggested Andy.

Before Gail could disagree however, the sound of tyres making their way up the gravel track made everyone swing round to take a look. Gail automatically reached for her gun, still conditioned to react as if they were under threat. However she had left the weapon inside that morning, so it was lucky the lack of a reaction from her fellow cops let her know there was nothing to worry about. A 4x4 came round the corner and into view before stopping right outside the cabin. The door swung open and another familiar face jumped out.

"Bailey? What the heck are you doing here?" Gail asked, looking down on the tall, dark ETF sergeant.

"Hey Little Peck," called Bailey, giving her a nod. He briefly waved at the rest of the cops, giving Nash an extra smile which caused Steve to bristle alongside her. "Nice place you've got here. Reminds me of Goldilocks. You know that one, Nash? In the original, it's an old woman, not a little girl. And when the bears catch her, they impale her on the steeple of St. Paul's Cathedral,"

"That's another one down the toilet. Bailey, you gotta stop ruining these for me," replied Traci, eyes wide in horror and shaking her head.

"Life is not a fairy tale," he told her, his deep voice making that announcement sound rather ominous.

"Okay okay, stop flirting and tell me what's going on. Why is he here and why is he all kitted up?" Gail asked, pointing at the ETF man's grey uniform and black vest.

"I'm just here to tell you that we're ready," Bailey said, addressing Steve. "My boys are in place and it's all set up. So you can get the ball rolling as soon as you're done here, Peck," and with that, Bailey stepped back into his car and roared off down the track.

Gail wheeled round and stared at her brother, her fierce gaze demanding an answer.

"Ah. I forgot to tell you. We've got a plan," Steve said, his grin almost splitting his face open.

They all trooped inside and Holly made coffee whilst they listened to Steve explain what was happening today. After the police in Vancouver had interviewed and charged Niall Glynn, the IT specialist, they had offered him a deal – help set up Kolarov's people for one more raid and the police service would ask the judge to look favourably on him at his eventual trial and sentencing. He had jumped at the chance.

So, Steve had put a team from Fifteen together overnight and had secured support from ETF. The plan was for Niall to ring his contact in the gang and tell him that he had finally tracked down Holly Stewart's location, something they had incessantly been pressing him for over the past week. His arrest was still under wraps, so the information would be plausible. Steve's team had found a suitable fake location; a motel not far from the town Gail had made her own staged call from yesterday. Bailey's team had spent the morning clearing the place of real guests and installing their own undercover operatives to pose as guests. When the gangsters take the bait and turn up at the motel, every single one of them would be taken down in a swift counter attack.

"Niall is ready to make the call whenever we give Vancouver the nod. But I thought you'd want to be in on this, so we figured we'd come and pick you up on the way," Steve finished his explanation.

Gail looked up to where Holly was laughing with Andy in the kitchenette, the two women catching up. "You can't use her as bait, Steve!" she said, worried. "She's not a cop, it's not safe,"

"No, you ass! We're not taking Holly! She doesn't actually need to be there, our new mole will just tell them she is. Holly is going back to the city with the Vancouver boys. They're putting her on a plane out of here this evening so she can spend the last couple of days before the trial with her family," he replied.

The blonde's face fell. She was glad Holly wouldn't be anywhere near trouble at last but that meant they would be apart for the first time in nearly six long weeks. It would be strange not to be waking up beside the brunette…or at least seeing her every day. She knew that things would change once they left this place but she hadn't expected it to be so soon. If Holly was going into the proper Witness Protection scheme, they wouldn't even be allowed to call each other. The pathologist could be gone for a while; at least until Kate Stewart was called to give evidence. And Gail would be dumped right back at Fifteen, chasing the usual local creeps around Toronto. What if Holly forgot about her? Worse still, what if the time apart made her realise that all this was a mistake and she could do better than a snarky beat cop with an attitude problem? She chewed at her lip and fought the irrational panic that was slowly spreading through her. She swallowed hard and tried to answer Steve in a normal voice.

"Right. Okay then," she muttered, her eyes still fixed on the pathologist. Holly sensed her scrutiny and made eye contact, a brilliant smile crossing her face as she did so and Gail felt her heart clench.

"Look, the more of these guys we can round up, the more evidence we can stack up against Kolarov, Robak and the other leaders. The trial is massive, Gail, we can't lose it," Steve said, mistaking his sister's lack of enthusiasm for apathy.

"Plus the more gang members we clear off the street," Traci interjected, giving a more public minded viewpoint.

The elder Peck snapped his fingers and pointed at his girlfriend. "Exactly! This is a win-win!"

"Sure. I get it," Gail nodded but every part of her was screaming that she didn't care and all she wanted to do was jump on that plane with her girlfriend. At that moment, Holly came strolling over to where they were all perched on the couch and armchairs round the fireplace.

"So, Andy tells me they've set up some sort of sting for the gang?" she asked, having not been a part of the main discussion. "Are you going?"

"Of course she's coming. We need her to see if she can identify any of the guys from yesterday, build some more links between this branch of the gang, Kolarov and our friend the corrupt cop. Besides, you wouldn't want to miss out on the action, right Gail?" Steve said, nudging his sister.

"Yeah. I'm going," she directed her answer at Holly, rather than the detective.

"Be careful, okay?" Holly pleaded, her stomach twisting at the thought of her girlfriend putting herself in danger once again.

"I will. I promise," the blonde said softly. Steve flicked his eyes back and forth between the two of them, not understanding the vibe he could feel. Traci on the other hand gave Gail a searching look. She recognised the crackling intensity between the two women, although she was surprised. She hoped she could get Gail on her own later to quiz her about what exactly had happened during their week on the run.

"Hey, Peck! We need to get going if we're going to have time to put the balloons out for this party," Sam's laconic voice cut through the cabin from where he stood propped up against the front door.

"Sure," Steve agreed, standing up. "Oliver, you take Andy, Chris and Sam with you. Tell Bailey we're on the way. Traci and I will bring Gail along, then Allan and Jake can drive the doc back to the city,"

"Hey! Wait! I'm not going back yet, not until I know Ga…you guys are all okay," Holly interrupted. She flushed slightly, knowing she had nearly said Gail which would have pretty much announced her feelings to the whole crowd.

McGregor stepped forward. "I'm afraid you don't have a choice this time Dr. Stewart. Your safety is in my hands again now, so we're heading back to the city so you can collect any luggage you may need for your flight," he told her.

"My flight? What flight?" the brunette demanded, having not heard that part of the conversation earlier.

"You'll be leaving the country later this evening. We're taking you to the same location your family are hidden, so we can be sure you're all protected right up until trial," McGregor explained.

"No! I'm not going!" Holly argued, her eyes flickering over to Gail.

"This is not a suggestion anymore, Dr Stewart. If I have to, this time I _will_ arrest you," the Vancouver man stated, not backing down. Gail read his mood immediately.

"It's okay, Lunchbox. You have to go. Spend some time with your family, catch up with them. I'll be fine and I'll see you soon," she said, hoping her tone told Holly all the things she couldn't say in front of this room full of people. Holly stared back at her girlfriend and looked for a moment like she might continue to argue. But Gail's soft smile and quick wink took the wind out of her sails, and she just nodded sadly instead. A few days ago she might have tried to persuade Gail to change her mind. However, after they had cleared the air about how to deal with the cop's professional responsibilities, she knew that Gail wouldn't advise her to go unless she really believed it was the best thing to do.

"Right! That's settled then!" Oliver yelled. "Let's get this show on the road people!" His loud voice didn't break the connection between the two women who were lost in each other's eyes.

"I'll see you soon," Gail whispered again.

"How soon?" Holly asked, her voice insecure. She couldn't believe she had to say goodbye to Gail right now, especially after last night. She knew that everything would change once they went back to the city; she had assumed that once people found out about the two of them, Gail would be removed from the protection team. But she had thought they would still be able to see each other.

Holly was planning on heading to Vancouver to support her sister once she was put on the witness stand and had already booked the time off with her boss. Although whether that would still be achievable when she actually made it back to work was another question, given that she had been AWOL from her job for the last week. Holly had planned on asking Gail to come to Vancouver with her but it sounded like she was heading for the full Witness Protection programme and she was pretty sure that came with a no guests allowed policy as standard. Whatever worries she had over her job paled into insignificance at the thought of suddenly being without her girlfriend after spending all this time together. What if Gail realised this had been a mistake? If she spent the next few days with Chris and decided she did prefer guys after all? She gave Diaz a hard stare. _Gail never mentioned her ex was tall, dark and handsome_ she thought gloomily. She had the sudden urge to drop something incredibly heavy on his foot.

They had spoken about whether all of this was so intense because of the sheer amount of time they had been forced together and Gail had laughed it off. Their fledgling relationship was new and therefore uncertain. Yet last night had been so incredible, she couldn't help but think that it had cemented things between them. If the blonde's feelings were anything as strong as Holly's, then a few days apart wouldn't matter. It would be okay. _It will be okay, Stewart!_ she yelled loudly inside her own head, then took a calming breath and tried to refocus on Gail, drinking in these last few minutes with the blonde.

"I don't know," Gail was saying. "What time does the flight leave?" she asked, directing the question to McGregor.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to disclose that, Officer Peck," he replied and it took all the self-control Gail could muster not to kick him in the nuts. That was twice in the last half hour she wanted to hurt her boss. She might actually deserve that rogue cop tag. However before she could open her mouth, she saw McNally waving at her, trying to get her attention. She looked over McGregor's shoulder and the dark haired cop held up six fingers before giving Gail the thumbs up.

Gail grinned and in that split second decided that Andy wasn't so bad after all. The whole Nick thing; what did it matter? Andy just repaid whatever she owed Gail for that mistake.

"I'll try to come and see you off at the airport," she told Holly, turning back to her girlfriend and blanking out the sergeant's grunt of displeasure with that suggestion.

"I'd like that," the pathologist said softly. She smiled, but it was a wobbly, sad attempt.

"Gail! These gangsters won't catch themselves!" Steve called and she noticed he had moved over to the door with the rest of the cops who were going to the sting.

"Alright, keep your hair on!" she told him, rolling her eyes before turning her attention back to her girlfriend.

"Okay. I've got to go, before these idiots start chewing the furniture," she said.

"Be careful," Holly begged again.

"I promise," Gail replied. "I'll see you soon,"

The brunette nodded and she stepped in and lifted her hands to lightly touch the blonde's hips.

Gail's eyes widened and she automatically gave an imperceptible shake of the head causing Holly's heart to plummet through the floor. She rocked backwards and immediately felt the tears well up. She looked down at the floor in a bid to blink them back, just as Gail turned to walk away.

"Oh. Okay. So that's how we're going to do this," she said faintly, more at herself than Gail. Perhaps her earlier confidence was misplaced after all. The sounds of the cops preparing to leave faded into the background as she lifted her gaze to watch the blonde step away from her.

Gail had only taken two or three steps however before she realised exactly what she had done. She had thought Holly was going to kiss her and she was hyper aware that half of her colleagues, not to mention her brother and her ex, were still in the room. She couldn't kiss her new girlfriend in front of everyone; no one knew about the two of them. Actually, she shouldn't be kissing Holly at all. As far as they were concerned she was already in enough trouble professionally without adding an inappropriate relationship into the mix too. But on the other hand she wouldn't be able to see Holly for a while. And she really wanted to kiss her. She wanted to say goodbye properly.

In the split seconds it took to contemplate her reaction, she realised that she had caught a glimpse of the hurt in her girlfriend's eyes as she turned away. When the pathologist's whispered lament reached her ears, the alarm bells rang loud and clear. Her brain caught up with her and Gail suddenly realised how her actions could've been interpreted. That look she saw in Holly's eyes was a wounded one and that comment was laced with disappointment. Gail never wanted to see her girlfriend upset and she especially never wanted to be the cause of it. The blonde had her share of regrets in her past failed relationships and she didn't want to add the beautiful brunette to that list. She never wanted to regret anything with Holly. _You've hurt her, you idiot. Go back!_ She stopped and looked at all the people lined up by the door, waiting for her to join them. They were staring. _Fuck it,_ she thought. _I don't care._

She whirled round and quickly bridged the distance between her and her girlfriend. She didn't hesitate this time, instead she moved into the brunette and kissed her passionately, trying to pour all the feelings surging through her into that one kiss. She had no idea how long it lasted but when they broke apart she stayed close, one arm wrapped around Holly's back and the other palm resting gently on her cheek. As she rested her forehead against her girlfriend's and waited for her breathing to slow she saw Holly's lip quiver and felt her trembling.

"I thought for a second there…" the doctor mumbled but Gail interrupted, shaking her head slightly.

"Sorry. I had a tiny freak out; I'm sorry. But Hols, I have fallen for you so hard and I don't care who knows it," she whispered, smiling at the brunette.

Holly sighed. The use of her shortened given name didn't escape her; Gail only called her that when she was being particularly sincere and tender. Suddenly, all was right with the world again. They _would_ be ok, she knew it. So she grinned right back. "I forgive you," she replied, but their moment was shattered by McGregor's indignant tone.

"Peck! You can't - "

The blonde wasn't about to let the man start on her. She finally let Holly go and turned round to cut him off. "I just did. So get over it. Or fire me if you like, but I don't work for you anymore anyway," she told him. "I'll see you later, Lunchbox," she said to her girlfriend, before casually strolling off to join her colleagues.

The team from Fifteen were all frozen by the front door in various states of shock. Andy and Traci were grinning like fools, Chris' jaw had hit the floor, Sam's eyebrows had flown so high they were nearly invisible in his hairline and Steve's eyes were as wide as saucers. Oliver was the only one who looked like a normal, capable human and he gave her a small pat on the back as she walked by.

"Close your mouth, Diaz, you're catching flies," she snapped, punching him on the arm as she walked past him and strode out of the cabin. "Let's go losers!" she yelled back through the doorway.

Fifteen's finest stayed stock still, looking round at one another until Traci elbowed Steve and broke the spell.

"You heard the lady!" Oliver announced. "Move it people, jump to it!" he directed, clapping his hands. The cops started to filter out the cabin, calling their farewells to Holly and the last two members of the protection team. "Make sure you lock this place up, doc! You don't want the bears to get in before your next stay," he told Holly with a twinkle in his eyes. He gave her a salute and an exaggerated wink before following his officers out the door.

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"So. You and the doc, eh?" Steve casually asked.

Gail sighed and shuffled in her seat in the back of the squad car. She had known it would only be a matter of time before someone asked. The only question was whether it would be Steve or Traci who cracked first, although she had known who her money was on. As her brother expertly steered the car round the winding forest track, Gail mentally paid herself the ten dollars she won on that bet.

"Yep," she replied, staring out the window and picking the rubber coating off the grill in front of her.

Steve watched her in the rear view mirror but she determinedly avoided his gaze. "Does that mean you're, you know…?" he said, waiting for her to fill in the blanks.

"Oh God," Gail muttered, cringing on his behalf. She didn't respond though.

"Come on, Gail. Talk to me!" he continued, deliberately hitting a pothole to jolt her and it was that childish behaviour that led to Traci intervening.

"Shut up, Steve! Leave her alone," she said, slapping him on the thigh. She turned in her seat to face the blonde cop and gave her an encouraging smile.

Gail raised her eyebrows, almost daring Nash to start digging as well but the other woman simply shrugged. "Everyone deserves to be happy, Gail. Even you," she stated kindly.

The blonde had to break eye contact so that Traci wouldn't see how much that statement meant to her. "Whatever," she mumbled and the occupants of the car fell into silence once more. "I like her," she blurted, shocking herself let alone the couple in the front.

Traci beamed at her. "I think we noticed that," she teased, making her friend blush and curse the fact that her mouth had a mind of its own. "IA want to talk to you though, Gail," Traci told her, thinking that her friend should know.

Gail frowned. She knew that would be coming but she wasn't looking forward to it. Mainly because she didn't know what to say; but she would do the exact same thing again if she had to. She had thought Holly was in danger staying with the protection team, so she had gotten them out of there and gone into hiding. She only got back in touch when she had figured out the mole was.

"It's fine," she replied. "I'll tell them everything,"

"They'll understand, once you've explained. They'll know you did the right thing," Traci reassured her.

"Your partner has already given his statement. Scott is it? He backed you up, said that he told you to run," Steve said. Gail smiled. If Sanderson had been well enough to give his statement to Internal Affairs, then he must really be on the mend.

"They just need to clear the shootings," Traci clarified. "But they will,"

Gail nodded. She felt bad about firing her weapon on duty, but she knew there was nothing else she could have done on either occasion. "So am I actually allowed to be a part of this op? Or am I just observing?" she asked.

"You're on the team. But it would probably be a good idea to stay in the background," Steve advised.

The blonde shrugged. Normally she would have been annoyed about being told to stay back on an arrest, but quite frankly she had had enough excitement lately. One more afternoon, then she could race back to the city, see Holly off and then go home and sleep for two days straight.

"No problem," she answered, closing her eyes and settling back into her seat.

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"So, you and the doc eh?" Oliver asked, looking at his colleague out the corner of his eyes as he faced the motel building. Somehow Gail had ended up partnering with Oliver and they had been allocated a spot at the back of the horseshoe shaped building. Gail suspected it was because Steve thought most of the action was likely to take place in the courtyard and was keeping his sister out the way as agreed. Plus he trusted the older cop over the more impetuous former rookies to keep her out of mischief.

Gail groaned. She loved Oliver, she really did, but was she going to have to have this exact same conversation with everyone she worked with? "You and Steve need to work on your lines," she said. "Not very original, Ollie,"

"Don't want to talk about it? That's okay, we can talk about something else," he shrugged. Niall the IT guy had made his phoney call about fifteen minutes ago, so they had plenty of time before things got interesting.

"Please," Gail said, hoping that would be the end of it.

"It's funny how relationships start, huh? I mean, who you end up with. Sometimes it's the last person you'd expect," Oliver mused.

"Oh my God," Gail grumbled. It looked like her mentor was going to do this anyway, despite her protest.

"Or that other people would expect," he continued, ignoring the blonde while she kept talking; their voices overlapping each other.

"We're not really having this conversation, are we?"

"But who cares what people think, right? As long as you're happy. Course, it's going to mean some life changes. Well I guess…well, I just said it; life changes," he said, looking over at her to sense her reaction. When he didn't get anything, he carried on; "Yeah, so you want to date a witch, buy some log cabin on a whim – basically to impress her. Or, after knowing her for an insanely short amount of time, ask her to move in with you. You know, but that's okay right? Because she makes you happy!"

Gail's eyes widened and she finally tuned in to what she thought the older cop was saying and nodded. "We're talking about you?" she asked.

Oliver paused and gave her a knowing look. "Who did you think we were talking about?" he asked, his voice dripping with meaning.

"I dunno," she squeaked.

"Because we're not talking about you, are we? You don't want to talk about you," he clarified and she nodded hastily.

Oliver shifted his position, causing some of the twigs and branches they were sitting on to rustle and snap, but he deliberately didn't speak again and instead waited for Gail to crack. He could virtually see the tension radiating off her and knew she was dying to say something but didn't know how

"She makes me happy!" the blonde finally announced, covering her face with her hands and therefore missing Oliver's beaming smile.

"Way to go Peck!" he enthused, squeezing her shoulder. "And Holly - she seems great. Everyone down at the lab loves her and she's done some terrific work with Fifteen already,"

"She is great," Gail replied, glad to have something she could talk about with confidence. "She's amazing; she's smart, she's funny…and she gets me, you know? She's just so…different!"

"Sounds like you got it bad…." Oliver said, fishing a little.

"I'm an idiot for her, Oliver. You know? Can you believe that?"

"Happens to the best of us my little Petulant Peck!"

That nickname reminded her of something. "But…," Gail started to voice the nagging doubt that was still present in the back of her mind then tailed off, embarrassed about what Oliver might say.

"But what?" he probed.

"But I'm a jerk. Holly's not going to want to be with a jerk, when she realises…" she said, admitting her fear that one day Holly would suddenly realise that she could do so much better than a scathing, disdainful and messed up beat cop.

"You are not a jerk. These guys we're going to arrest today – jerks. But you? And your relationship with the universe, with the cosmos…your healthy disrespect for _everything._ That's what makes you one in a million, truly," Oliver told her, not a shred of doubt in his voice.

She gave him a small smile, thankful that Oliver Shaw would always have her back and always knew what to say to her. And it was that knowledge that allowed her to finally confess her final secret.

"I think I'm in love with her," she said. The physical reaction to finally saying that out loud was completely unexpected; she felt a flood of warmth, pride and love. Her smile widened and her heart soared.

"Have you told her?" Oliver asked, rudely interrupting her inner epiphany.

She pulled a face, moment gone. "No. It's too soon," she pointed out.

"Who cares? Darlin', love is something you sing about from the rooftops, not keep a secret! She makes you happy right?" he queried and she simply nodded in response. "Then next time you see her, you tell her!"

Gail lapsed back into silence as she thought that one through. Maybe she would. But she was still scared. Maybe it would be better to keep it to herself for just a little while longer. At least until they figured out how they were going to make this relationship work in the real world. Although that did bring another concern to mind.

"If something happens, will you be the one to tell her?" she asked, biting her lip.

"What! You want me to tell her you love her? No way, you gotta do that!" he argued incredulously.

"No! I mean if something bad happens. If I get hurt or…or worse," she clarified.

"Peck, nothing's going to happen! We've got this all sewn up!" he laughed, but her tone concerned him. Nobody needed a worried cop with their finger on the trigger at a stakeout. Maybe all this business had affected Gail more than he thought it had. However, when she explained further it did make more sense.

"I don't mean today! I mean going forward; if something bad happens when I'm at work. Look, this is a dangerous job, we both know that. But Holly, she…I don't know. I don't know how she'll cope with that. So if I get hurt…or worse…I want you to be the one that tells her. I can trust you to look after her, to do it right," Gail explained.

"You're a good cop. Nothing is going to happen," he said slowly, knowing that wasn't something he should say but he couldn't help trying to reassure the blonde. It was the Training Officer in him; he always looked after his rookies, even when they were no longer rookies and were more than capable of looking after themselves.

"You don't know that, Ollie. Sometimes it's just dumb luck,"

He should have known Gail wouldn't buy that. "Okay. I'll do it, in the unlikely event I need to," he agreed.

"Promise me?" she asked, wanting to be absolutely certain.

"I promise," he vowed and she finally smiled, glad to have got that settled.

"Thanks, Oliver," she said softly.

"Any time, darling. Now, while I've got your attention, you know that the Internal Affairs boys are coming, right?"

Gail groaned. If both Traci and Oliver were worried about the IA investigation, it couldn't be good. "Yeah. Nash told me. Should I start looking for another job?" she asked.

He tipped his head from side to side in a maybe yes, maybe no gesture that really didn't fill Gail with confidence. "They're going to want to hear the full story from your side," he said slowly. "It's not the relationship with Holly they're looking at, although I would downplay that if I were you. They want to know why you chose to leave, why you didn't call in,"

"Okay," she said. That wasn't a problem. She could tell them exactly why she had made that call and, now that they knew that all the phones in the team had been bugged, her decision was vindicated.

"They don't know about the stolen car," he told her. "That would put Diaz in hot water too, so we haven't shared that little gem," he gave her a hard look, obviously not thrilled she had dragged another officer into that particular escapade.

"Right. Thanks. I'll leave him out of it, of course,"

"Go on then. Run me through it. Let's make sure everything stacks up," he said.

Gail frowned. This was definitely an issue; Oliver was concerned enough to try and coach her through her statement. Not talking about a current investigation was one of the key rules IA insisted upon yet the older cop was bending it to help her out. She appreciated that he cared enough to want to protect her but she didn't want to drag anyone else into trouble over this. She had caused enough mayhem already. "It's fine, Oliver. I've got this, don't put yourself in an awkward position,"

"There's nobody here and we've got time to kill. Once we're back in the city, they'll want to talk to you straight away. So don't worry about me. I know that you're going to tell them the truth and that they'll understand the decisions you made. But humour me, okay? Let's make sure you're cleared sooner rather than later," he told her.

 _Why not then? It couldn't hurt_ Gail thought, so she started right at the beginning and told her friend everything that had happened since she joined the protection team. Oliver interjected occasionally, asking important questions and helping her to really think about why she had acted in the way she did. Halfway though she was glad that he had suggested this, knowing her interviews with IA later would go a lot smoother. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but they were nearly at the end of it when Oliver's radio crackled to life.

"Show time," he grinned, when the broadcast confirmed a number of vehicles were on the approach to the motel.

They both stretched out their muscles and got themselves ready. The plan was that the team would let the gangsters get out of their cars. The guy now standing at the front desk was a plant and if he was asked whether he had two women staying there with Holly and Gail's description, he would direct them to room number eight, right in the middle of the complex. Bailey's ETF cops were hiding out in that room, plus the ones on either side and there were also cops surrounding the place, hidden in the tree line like Gail and Oliver were.

The faint sound of engines came closer, breaking through the silence. When they cut out, Gail heard a door slam and Steve's voice came over the radio, as quiet as he dared. "Looks like eight suspects in total, repeat eight. Three vehicles. Two are getting out and going to the motel desk," he informed the team from his viewpoint in an upstairs room, overlooking the courtyard.

They waited a beat, Gail wishing for the first time that she was in the thick of things round the front so that she could see exactly what was going on. This reminded her of the night at the safe house, when she had been desperately listening to the sounds below and trying to figure out what was happening. The confusion and fear had been almost overwhelming that night. She swallowed, reminding herself this was going to be nothing like that. There were over twenty cops here; ETF specialists, some of Steve's Gungs and Gangs team and the normal officers from Fifteen. They had this covered.

"Making their way to the ambush site. The others are leaving their vehicles and following. Are you ready, Bailey?" came the radio update. Gail knew Bailey himself was stationed in room eight and his job would be to take down anyone who came rushing through that door.

"10-4, Peck," confirmed the EFT man.

However, suddenly Steve swore over the airwaves. "Oliver! They've directed two round the back! They're going to head your way, okay? West side of the building,"

Oliver acknowledged the message as both he and Gail turned their heads to their left, watching the corner, waiting for someone to appear.

"I'm sending Devonshire and Clayton round to you," Bailey instructed, knowing that Gail and Oliver were the only two at the rear of the motel and would need back up. However, it would take a while for the ETF officers to work their way silently round to the correct place, given that they had to remain out of sight.

"Wait for the signal, Oliver," Steve said. "We'll leave it as long as possible, then you stop your guys as soon as we move in on ours,"

Oliver gave Gail a nod, checking she was ready and she understood. She returned it firmly, just as two thugs made their way round the side and came into view. They stuck close to the wall, counting windows until they reached the one belonging to room eight. One of them craned his neck to try and look through, but Gail knew the blinds were down and they wouldn't see anything at all. The other guy ran his fingers round the frame, trying to pry open the window but he had no hope; years of wear and numerous coats of paint gave him no leverage.

As Gail watched him struggle she heard a loud bang from around the other side of the building and she automatically tensed. That must be the guys kicking in the door to the room, which was the agreed signal for the cops to move in. Bailey had hoped to grab at least the two, maybe three, who would hurtle into the room. Two more round the back would leave three outside in the courtyard to be rounded up; it should be more than achievable given that four cops were about to come busting out of the neighbouring rooms, several more were upstairs and there was another group about to sprint in from the forest.

"POLICE! FREEZE!" she heard a loud shout and that was her cue. She and Oliver both rose up from their hiding spot and ran towards the guys by the window, weapons drawn and yelling at the guys to get down, hands on their head. The gangsters froze in shock for a split second but soon realised where the threat was coming from and reacted in the worst possible way. They ran.

One thug went one way and the other headed in the complete opposite direction. Gail dimly heard Oliver yelling he was going right, so she zoned in on the left hand guy and poured on the speed as he raced alongside the brick wall. She was hoping he would run smack into one of the ETF officers that Bailey had said he was sending out back as he rounded the corner, but at the last moment he veered off and shot straight down a small track into the trees.

The blonde didn't hesitate, barrelling through the gap too and ignoring the thin braches whipping at her face and arms. As she moved she holstered her gun which lost her valuable seconds, but she couldn't risk falling and having it discharge accidentally; she was already in enough hot water with IA. Besides, she couldn't see a weapon on the guy she was pursuing. _Why do they always run_ _?_ she asked herself as she ducked under a low branch.

She lost sight of the would-be escapee through the greenery, but could hear him which meant she wasn't far behind. Gail also heard footfalls behind her and hoped it was Devonshire or Clayton. She suddenly came out onto a wider, straighter track and she saw the perp ahead. She was definitely getting closer so she sped up, wanting to catch her man before he was too far from the motel. That was her downfall however, because just as she reached out to grab at his jacket, she went sprawling over a raised tree trunk and hit the ground hard.

She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her and the momentum of the fall sent her rolling over a couple of times which was enough to completely disorientate her. She felt movement on her right side and realised her fall had also taken the fleeing man out, so she clutched his leg as he lurched to his feet. He kicked out at her, but she hung on….until she felt a blinding pain shoot through the back of her head and into her skull. She released a sharp cry before everything went black.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Thank you for sending me loads of comments on the last chapter, I really enjoyed reading them all. And I'm sorry for throwing another cliffhanger in there...what can I say, I just can't help myself! Hopefully this gives you some answers though. On with the penultimate chapter; beta'd once again by the awesome Kravn.**

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Holly sat in the hard plastic seat, knees agitatedly bouncing and arms crossed obstinately in front of her chest.

"It's time to go, Dr Stewart," McGregor said, standing over her like she was some sort of naughty school child. She ignored him, glancing at her watch instead and looking up at the flight board which was flashing an ominous red 'final call' warning.

"Dr Stewart. Please don't make me cause a scene, because we will carry you onto this flight if we have to," McGregor tried again.

She looked up at him finally, sizing up whether that was a serious threat or not. His iron jaw and squared shoulders told her that it was. She glanced at Jacob Chen who looked decidedly more uncomfortable with that plan, then over to the unfamiliar uniformed cop who had escorted them to the airport. He was completely impassive and she knew he would do whatever McGregor told him to do. And he was a big guy.

"She said she'd be here!" Holly replied, desperately trying to hang on longer. "The gate is only over there," she pointed out. Final call didn't really mean final call did it? There was still a trickle of passengers heading through the gate. She had conceded to coming up here rather than waiting in the main lounge when their boarding time was announced, so that had to give her a bit more leeway.

"We have a little more time," Chen said, "I told them we're here, they'll give us a shout when we absolutely have to board." McGregor turned his apoplectic stare towards him for encouraging the doctor but he simply shrugged in response.

Yet the sergeant didn't have time to yell at his subordinate, as they all heard footsteps thundering up the concourse towards them, the noise echoing through the mostly empty departure gate. Holly's heart leapt but her joy was short lived when it was Oliver Shaw, not Gail Peck, who came barrelling round the corner.

He skidded to a stop on the laminated floor in front of them just as Holly jumped to her feet. "Oliver! What are you doing here? Where is she?" she asked, her mind automatically jumping to the worst conclusion. _Was Gail in trouble? Had the Internal Affairs people arrested her for breaking their silly rules? Or had she simply changed her mind and didn't want to see her girlfriend off? Didn't in fact want a girlfriend?_

Oliver could see the panic written all over the brunette's face, but he couldn't get any words out to tell her what had actually happened. He gulped in air, trying to recover from his mad dash through the airport which had involved at least three arguments with security staff and the intervention of Sam with his fancy detective badge and cool shades.

"Man, I'm getting too old for this," he finally wheezed, hands on knees as he sucked in a deep breath.

Holly took in his dishevelled appearance, dirt smeared up one side of him and what looked like bloodstains on his shirt. "Oliver!" she pleaded, suddenly realising that none of the scenarios she had imagined that could prevent Gail being here were in fact the worst potential problem.

"She's okay!" Oliver hastened to tell her, getting the good news out of the way first. Holly's legs buckled slightly and she dropped back down onto the seat. The cop took the chair next to her, still breathing hard.

"She took a whack on the head chasing a suspect," he explained, patting Holly's forearm gently. "She's in hospital and they've got her all doped up, so she couldn't make it here. But she's okay, I promise,"

"What do you mean, 'a whack on the head'?" the brunette demanded, knowing head injuries were complicated. "What happened?"

"One of the perps ran from us, so she tackled him and bought him down. Seems like they scuffled and then he hit her with a rock that he had grabbed off the ground," Oliver started to explain but broke off when he heard Holly gasp at that.

"He hit her with a rock?" she yelped. "Where? How hard? Are there lacerations, contusions? Was she unconscious?" she fired out her questions rapidly, making the officer blink in surprise. He wasn't used to a medical grilling when he told family members about injuries amongst his officers; something which he had done far more times than he would have liked.

"Well it knocked her out cold. But she woke up when the paramedics were there. She was pretty groggy. And she's got a cut on the back of her head, here," he said, touching the back of his own head to show Holly exactly where Gail's injury was. "The docs stitched it right up though,"

"And there's no internal bleeding or fractures? Has she had a CT scan? What's her GCS score?" Holly demanded.

"Look, Doc, I'm not sure what all those letters mean, I'm sorry," Oliver replied, still bewildered by the inquisition. "They're doing everything they're supposed to be doing. They're keeping her in to do more tests and keep an eye on her, but they said there was no further bleeding. She's concussed and she was drifting in and out of it, so they've got her on all the good drugs and when I left she was asleep,"

Holly stared at him before wheeling back to face McGregor. "I need to go down to the hospital," she told him.

"No. No way," he flatly replied and when the pathologist opened her mouth to argue back he held up a hand to stop her in her tracks. "You are getting on this plane. It's non-negotiable,"

Oliver saw the fear and anger play across Holly's face and intervened before she got herself into trouble or burst into tears. "Hey. She's okay, I promise you. She's being looked after and we'll all stay with her. You know what Gail's like, the nurses will probably kick her out after a day for being a pain in the ass!"

Holly snorted, just as the airport PA system rang out and the final boarding call for her flight was announced. She looked up at the board, torn between doing what she was told and her fears about her girlfriend.

"I spoke to her in the hospital, that's why I came up here; she asked me to tell you she's okay and you shouldn't worry. Go," Oliver told her gently. "She'll be fine and you can speak to her when you get there and she's feeling a little better," he said, knowing that wasn't strictly true, but that he had to convince Dr Stewart to get on that plane.

The lady from the boarding desk started walking towards them and both McGregor and Chen acknowledged her with a wave. "It really is time to go, Holly," Chen said, resting a hand on her shoulder. McGregor had the sense to remain quiet, so Holly stood up and nodded. Oliver got to his feet and pulled her into a hug which she returned fiercely. He could feel her shaking and so whispered yet more reassurances in her ear.

As she pulled away, Holly gripped the cop's forearm and looked straight at him. "Just let her know that I said I hope she feels better soon. And that she should look after herself and do what the doctor tells her?" she asked.

"Of course," he agreed readily, but Holly didn't let go.

"And will you tell her…" she started but then bit her lip and looked away for a second, catching Chen and McGregor's gaze instead. They had the good grace to look away and step back out of earshot for a moment.

"What, darling?" Oliver prompted her gently.

"Tell her I love her?" Holly whispered, blushing furiously as a brilliant smile bloomed across Oliver's face. "No, wait!" she said, changing her mind. "Don't tell her that. I want to tell her that! I can tell her that, right?" she asked, her emotions fluctuating between assertiveness to nerves and uncertainty in the blink of an eye. She knew it was too soon yet she couldn't help how she felt. She had fallen in love with Gail Peck and she wanted the blonde to know. Maybe it would scare her, maybe it wouldn't, but it was true and it was wonderful and it was crazy…and it was like her heart had flown above the clouds the moment she said it out loud.

The grin on his face was still wide and sincere when Oliver replied, bringing her attention back to earth if not her soaring heart. "Sweetheart, of course you can. You can tell her that every day for the rest of your lives if you want!" he said, and he pulled her in tight for another quick hug.

Holly kissed him on the cheek and then finally turned to join the protection team. "I'm ready," she said and McGregor led her straight to the gate at a brisk walk, only a cursory glance at their documents before they were ushered straight through the tunnel.

Chen hung back however and exchanged a handshake with Oliver. "Is she really okay?" he asked, concerned at the way the officer from Toronto had avoided some of the details.

Oliver pulled a face, realising he had been caught. "She will be," he said, firmly. "She hasn't really come round properly yet, but I didn't want to worry the Doc too much. They think there might be a small fracture at the base of her skull, so they're watching her closely. But the hospital said she would be fine, there was no need for us to worry,"

"So she didn't exactly ask you to come down here?" Chen queried with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure she did. Just not at the hospital," the older officer replied. The airline staff called out Chen's name and they both looked round. "Go on, go. You look after the Doc, I'll look after the Peck,"

"Thanks Shaw," the Vancouver man replied and he sprinted through the gate and down the tunnel, just as the staff shut the doors.

Oliver waved before turning and walking in the opposite direction, towards the departure lounge. He had to get back to the hospital to keep an eye on his rookie; make sure that she was going to be fine because he had just promised her girlfriend that she would be and he was going to deliver on that promise.

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Everyone always talked about floating and flying like they were such wonderful feelings. Some people wanted to take meditation classes so they could float away from their stresses. Others dreamed of floating around in a swimming pool on their vacations, not a care in the world as the sun shone down on them. A lot of folk wanted to fly, free as birds, so they spent their spare time riding rollercoasters and jumping out of planes and all that craziness. Some lost souls even took drugs to fly above the crowd in a state of euphoria. Well, none of that made sense to Gail Peck. She had been floating for what felt like days and it was awful. She was downright sick of floating.

The first time she had become aware of this strange, new sensation was when someone had been poking and prodding at the back of her head, pulling her hair and stretching the skin of her scalp. She had complained of course, in what she thought was a loud and clear manner. However the Gail floating on the ceiling had heard the Gail on the bed speak and all that seemed to come out of her mouth were the words "hurts" and "Holly" and "get off me". And then it had all gone blank again.

The next time she felt like she was floating was when she had been woken from a weird, dream filled sleep by voices arguing about Chinese food. 'Floaty Gail' had tried to shut the voices up and tell them that Szechuan chicken was clearly the best takeaway option. 'Bed Gail' had recognised the voices though and was too preoccupied with how odd it was to have Chris, Oliver and Sanderson in the same room. It was like that Christmas story, with all the ghosts visiting that grumpy old Scrooge guy? _Shit, what was that called?_ 'Floaty Gail' was yelling 'A Christmas Carol' at the top of her voice which wasn't that loud, seeing as she wasn't real, therefore no one heard her. 'Bed Gail' was telling the boys that Chris was Christmas past, Ollie was Christmas present and Sanderson was Christmas future. They were flummoxed of course, because they weren't privy to the Dickens reference and 'Floaty Gail' knew that was going to have bad consequences. Sure enough a nurse arrived, deftly made some adjustments to the line running into the back of 'Bed Gail's' hand and then the world went black again. Though not before she wondered where the fuck Jacob Marley was?

After that, there was an episode with an elephant in the hospital room - a freaky baby elephant that was probably a serial killer in disguise. And then the strange obsession with her own hair. And then the singing. Throughout all those moments, Gail was floating and she didn't like it. Floating was not fun or relaxing like other people made it out to be. It was painful and scary and it made her feel sick.

So she was really glad when she woke up again and this time she wasn't floating. Instead she was aching and as soon as she moved, that ache became a blinding pain which shot through her skull and made her eyes water. She hissed and on the second attempt, turned her head a lot more slowly, which seemed to have better results.

"Hey there, sleepy head!" came a voice to her right and she sat up cautiously, to check she had heard right. Sure enough, her eyes confirmed it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, smiling despite the accusatory tone of her words.

"Well you know. Found myself with some time to kill and thought I'd see if any sense had been knocked into that head of yours,"

"It's so good to see you," she replied, suddenly feeling a lot better than she had on all the other occasions she had half woken up in this bland hospital room.

"Aw shucks, stop it. Anyone would think you like me!"

Gail rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, Sanderson," she deadpanned and the guy reclining in the chair next to her bed grinned back at her.

"Good to see you too, Peck. Well, good to see you back in the land of the living at least, as I've been watching you sleep for the past few days," he replied. He got out of his seat and helped her place the pillows into a more comfortable position, which was no easy task considering his left arm and shoulder were strapped in a sling.

"Where's Holly?" she asked in a sudden panic, her brain finally catching up to her. The monitor she was hooked up to began to bleep faster and her partner glanced up at it in concern as he rushed to reassure her.

"She's safe! She's with her family under full witness protection now so I don't know where exactly. But McGregor sent word that everything was fine,"

The sound of the monitor must have alerted the staff, as a nurse came bustling into the room, exclaiming at seeing the police officer awake and sitting up. She ignored Gail's grumbling and completed a round of basic observations before promising to page the neurologist assigned to the blonde's case.

"She'll want to do some cognitive tests," the nurse announced.

"Tell her not to bother," Gail replied. "I was insane before some lunatic tried to split my head open; I doubt much has changed,"

Sanderson snorted and nodded his agreement whilst the nurse looked a little taken aback.

"It's not a psychiatric assessment!" she hastened to add, thinking her patient was worried. "It's purely to make sure your brain is functioning correctly after the concussion,"

"Lady, I can assure this is as good as you'll get from me. My name is Gail Peck, my birthday is in November, my badge number is 8727, Harper is the Prime Minister, I can count backwards from a hundred and I can probably follow your pen around the room with my eyes until we're both bored stupid and I throw it out the window. So do I sound brain damaged to you?" the blonde finished her diatribe with a raised eyebrow.

"No ma'am," the young nurse quickly agreed before she scurried out the room.

"That wasn't very nice," Sanderson chastised her.

"Yeah well. She'll be back with this doctor in tow anyway. They'll probably do more tests now," the blonde replied.

Sanderson laughed. "You'd deserve it. So anyway, where was I?"

"Holly's in hiding again, but this time it's official," Gail supplied the details. "I guess that means I can't talk to her, right?" she asked, trying to control her reaction to that.

"No. But she'll be back for when Kate has to testify. The trial starts today, remember?" Sanderson asked.

"In Vancouver," she replied flatly, knowing that Holly would want to support her sister during that before returning to Toronto. Although she understood that, she couldn't help but feel a little resentful about having to wait longer to see her girlfriend.

"Yeah. But she'll call you, obviously!" Sanderson said, trying to comfort her.

She pulled a face and changed the subject before she succumbed to the lump in her throat and the ache in her heart. She had woken up with Holly every morning for a whole week straight, now she might not see her for a while and she was already missing her. "Can I have some water?" she asked and the fair haired cop obliged by pouring a glass from the jug next to her bed.

She sipped it slowly and queried "How long have I been out?"

"Three days. It's Monday – you missed the whole weekend, apart from a few brief moments," he told her.

"Damn. Never get injured on a Friday, eh?" she asked.

"Exactly. But you may as well have been partying hard, judging by some of the nonsense you've been coming up with whenever you woke up," Sanderson laughed. "You're not good on meds, are you?"

"Apparently not," Gail replied, her hazy recollections of her floaty moments were mixed up in her mind. She decided it was best not to ask. She rubbed at her temples, waiting for the ache in her head to die down.

"You feeling okay? Shall I call the nurse back?" he suggested.

"No, I'm alright. Don't let them give me any more of that crazy juice," she said, even though she felt like shit. But at least she was awake and lucid. "What about you? Are you okay?" she asked, pointing at his sling.

"Never better. Honestly, you wouldn't believe what a chick magnet a life threatening bullet wound is!" he replied with a grin.

She rolled her eyes. "Holly would say 'joking about death is an avoidance tactic'," she noted and Sanderson attempted a casual shrug in response but couldn't quite pull it off with only one working arm. Gail just stared at him expectantly.

"Alright Sigmund, you can stop psychoanalysing me. I'm okay. It's all a little hazy, but they pulled me out of the safe house not long after you guys left. The shoulder is a mess but it was actually the blood loss that was the problem. So I spent a few days as a guest of this fine establishment and a couple of transfusions later they had me back in the land of the living," he explained.

"McNally said it was touch and go for a while," the blonde probed further, wanting to make doubly sure her friend was indeed on the mend.

"Yeah, I guess people were pretty worried. I don't remember much to be honest. One minute Andy was yelling at me in the attic, the next I'm in this place eating jello after being out of it for forty eight hours. There were a couple more days of being prodded every five minutes, then I had an operation to put my shoulder back together. They let me hang around and flirt with the nurses for a few more days, before you showed up with your head bashed in. Even though they kicked me out yesterday, I figured I'd still drop by and keep you company. I'm not cleared to fly and I have a couple of follow up appointments, so why not hang out in Toronto?" Sanderson finished his story with another half shrug and flopped back down in the chair, propping his feet up on the bed.

"You were here before, weren't you? With Oliver and Chris?" she asked, frowning at the vague memory.

"Yup. They've been here a lot. So have most of the guys from Fifteen actually. And I met your brother. He delayed flying out for the trial until he knew you were ok, so he'll be coming back at four when I go for my blood tests and then McNally is on the evening shift," Sanderson told her.

"I don't need babysitting!" Gail grumbled, shooting him a defiant look.

"Oh we're not hanging round to spend time with you. We just want to eat all your grapes and chocolate," he said, pointing at the open boxes on her side table.

"Whatever. So, tell me about the sting? Did they get them all?" asked the blonde, keen to know what happened after she had been knocked out of action.

"Apart from you running into a rock, it all went well. They arrested eight more gang members and a couple of them have agreed to testify, so it's all stacking up well for the trial," he answered.

Gail nodded absentmindedly before remembering it wasn't a good idea to move her head. She winced at the sharp pain and brought her hand up to gingerly touch the dressings at the base of her skull. She could feel the raised stitching underneath the cloth, but got a real shock when she also felt short hair there instead of her usual longer locks.

"They cut my hair!" she yelped, giving Sanderson an accusatory glare even though it was unlikely he had anything to do with that.

Her partner did have the good grace to look sympathetic. "Um, more like hacked I think? They had to, so they could stitch you up. And you've got a small hairline crack in your skull, so you really shouldn't poke it like that," he advised, leaning forward to pull her hand away.

"Get me a mirror!" she demanded.

"Yeah, probably not a good idea? It kind of looks like you chopped it off yourself. But once you get out of here, a hairdresser will sort it out!" he said brightly.

"Sanderson, you'd better be fucking kidding me or I'll be taking a razor to your hair as well!" she threatened.

Scott gulped and desperately sought to change the subject. "You look fine Gail, I'm just teasing! So, tell me what happened after you left the safe house anyway? I was impressed you managed to stay undercover,"

Despite her panic about her hair, that did indeed distract Gail and she launched into the story of their time at Oliver's cabin, how they had gotten out the city and how they had finally figured out who the snitch was. In return, Sanderson told her everything he knew from this side of the investigation, including how he and McNally had also assumed it was Chen or McGregor but couldn't pin it on either one. They hadn't even thought of the IT Tech until news broke of Gail's call to her brother.

Sanderson was childishly indignant when Gail admitted she had thought he might be the inside man for a while. She had apologised – until he conceded that he had the same doubts about her and was worried he had made the worst mistake of his life by sending Holly off with her!

He also filled her in on what he knew about the Internal Affairs investigation. Due to his health, he had only given his interview the day before Gail had finally called her brother but he had told them all about the corrupt cop theory. Gail's subsequent report, the arrest of Niall Glynn and the sting at the motel had backed everything up so things were looking better for her than they had in the immediate aftermath of the siege at the safe house.

After an hour or so of catching up, they both ran out of stories to swap. Gail was feeling fuzzy once more and was seriously debating buzzing that annoying nurse for some more drugs. Before she could though, Sanderson asked the question she knew he had been building up to.

"So, go on. Aren't you going to tell me?" he prompted.

"Tell you what?" she played dumb, wanting to put him off but the Vancouver man was too persistent for that feeble brush off.

"You know what! About you and the Doc of course!"

"I just did. We escaped the safe house, we hid out in the cabin, we figured out who the corrupt cop was and we caught eight more members of the gang. Job done," Gail said, lifting her hands in a gesture that clearly meant what else was there to talk about?

"You know what I mean, idiot," he warned.

"Not a clue, Sanderson, not a clue," she replied with a smile.

"Fine. So should I say you and your girlfriend? Would that give you more of a clue?" he asked and he grinned when she flushed slightly, still not used to hearing that description.

"You're as bad as an old woman!" she grumbled. "Who have you been gossiping with?"

"Well it's not like I hadn't already noticed something was going on before you left. Which is another thing I didn't mention to IA by the way. But apparently you two are now all kinds of official," he probed.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear on the jungle drums, Sanderson," she said, still trying to put the conversation off. She wasn't ashamed of Holly, of course she wasn't. She had proved that to the brunette and to everyone else when they had said their goodbyes at the cabin. Yet she wasn't sure she was ready to go into all the details with Sanderson who, aside from Oliver and Traci, had quickly become the closest thing she had to a best friend. Her relationship with her girlfriend still felt too new; too precious and too private. She wanted to hug it close to her and cherish it for a little longer, not have it splashed around the division on the monthly news bulletin.

"You kissed her senseless in front of half your colleagues. I'm pretty sure they didn't need drums to draw their attention to the fact something might be going on between you two," he drawled.

"Shut up," Gail told him, now blushing furiously and throwing a grape at his head. He tried to catch it but being constrained by his sling made him less co-ordinated that usual and he knocked it under the bed. He awkwardly scrambled around on the floor for a while and by the time he emerged victorious with the annoying grape, the blonde was purposefully ignoring his gaze.

"Hey. You don't have to tell me anything, I'm just messing with you. But I've seen you two together and I think she makes you happy. So I'm really pleased for you, okay? Now that she's _out_ of our jurisdiction!" he said, his voice full of warmth and sincerity rather than the jocular tone she was used to.

She softened slightly and nodded at him. "She does make me happy. I really like her, Scott," she said, a smile creeping onto her face as thoughts of the nerdy brunette filled her mind.

"Less of the Scott!" he warned her, casting them both back to that morning in the safe house so he quickly moved back to the topic at hand. "You're good together," he told her, a bright and wide grin plastered across his own face. "Just remember who helped you get the girl when you're picking out a best man for the wedding, okay?"

"You're such a dweeb," she said, rolling her eyes and launching a handful of grapes in his direction, just as the neurologist walked through the door.

"Help me doc, this woman is crazy!" he announced.

But the doctor clearly wasn't amused at their antics. She shooed the lanky officer out the room in double quick time before turning on the blonde.

"So, Miss Peck? I hear you've been giving my nurses trouble and now I catch you throwing fruit around my hospital. Do I need to sedate you again, or are you ready to behave like an adult? One with a professional job that I'm sure you want to get back to, and therefore need me to sign you out of here?" the short, dark woman asked, without so much as a smile.

"The second option, Doctor, definitely the second option," Gail hurriedly agreed whilst privately thinking Holly's bedside manner was _much_ better than this dragon's.

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The neurologist wasn't the only person to get irritated at the Peck and Sanderson double act over the next couple of weeks. Gail had been allowed home from hospital after only two more nights and nobody was quite sure whether it was the cop herself or the nurses that were more pleased about that. With both of them on sick leave from work, they had a lot of time to kill and found a willing partner in crime in each other.

For the first couple of days, she and Sanderson had been happy to laze about Gail's flat, eating junk food and playing video games. They had gotten bored by day three however and so were already looking for something new when Steve's phone call came in. Her brother had been calling every evening, supposedly to update her on the Kolarov trial but she knew it was really to check up on her. That evening though, apart from the boring legal talk, he also let slip that Holly had arrived back in the country ready for her sister to take the stand tomorrow. Gail hadn't known what to say. She debated slamming the phone down on her brother and calling her girlfriend straight away but as soon as the thought crossed her mind, the doubt crept in. Maybe she should give it a day or two, let Holly settle in? Kate's testimony was going to be stressful and Holly would be preoccupied with supporting her sister. Plus she had only just been reunited with her family after a long time apart. Her needy girlfriend calling her was probably the last thing she wanted on top of all of that right now.

So it was boredom and longing that contributed to the introduction of tequila into their video game night. And that led to a very loud shouting match over whether Sanderson's controller wasn't working properly after he suffered his fourth loss of the evening. Which in turn brought on the complaints from the neighbours and that was the end of their gaming.

After that, they started spending their time at The Penny. They drank more liquor, ate cheeseburgers and used their respective injuries into hustling fellow customers into betting on darts or pool. Looking at the sorry state of the pair, most strangers believed they could win and so entered the bet gladly before losing their money. Gail and Sanderson had both spent too many hours in cop bars to let a concussion and a bullet wound stop them winning at darts. Yet their celebrations got too exuberant for the bar owner's liking, particularly when Sanderson fell off the bar during a victory dance. So he threw them out and asked them to give it a rest for a few days.

Still lost for something to do, they took to hanging around Fifteen. That was fine for a while but eventually Gail's colleagues got sick of them either offering unsolicited advice on cases or playing pranks in the locker room. They were then both banned from the station until they had a doctor's note confirming they were fit to return to work. It was perhaps a blessing for the wider Toronto area that Sanderson was soon cleared to fly as they had run out of places to hang out and cause mischief. As much as he had enjoyed hanging out with Gail, he was also keen to get back to Vancouver and see his family and friends. His parents had visited him in the hospital for a couple of days, but it was nearly two months since he had seen anyone else from his hometown. Gail dropped him off at the airport and told him to get lost because he was boring her anyway. The lanky officer hadn't been fooled though and wrapped her in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet even with only one arm. If it had been anyone else she would have squealed to be put down, but instead she laughed, hugged him back and waited till he walked through the security check before she let her face drop.

She knew how much she was going to miss her partner. She always hated not being able to go to work; not just because of the boredom but also because it reminded her of those weeks that followed Jerry's death. Having someone to hang out with had made it bearable this time around. Sure enough, two days on her own almost drove her crazy. It wasn't just the not having anything to do as she had offered to take Leo for one for the days which was kind of fun. It was the fact that whatever she occupied herself with, it did nothing to distract her from the constant thoughts of a certain pathologist who was now back in the country. She had hoped that as soon as Holly had arrived back in Canada, she would call her. But she hadn't. Gail had waited a couple of days, thinking her girlfriend just needed time to settle back in, yet still no phone call. And no matter how much she tried to tell herself that she was being paranoid, Gail couldn't help thinking that maybe Holly didn't want to speak to her. That maybe the time away had made her rethink this whole thing.

At least once a day she would punch Holly's number into her phone, only to chicken out at the last moment and not make the call. Having Steve out in Vancouver meant not only did she get plenty of trial news, she also got updates on Holly whenever she plucked up the courage to ask her brother. So she knew her girlfriend was spending every day at the trial with her family but then spent her evenings getting caught up on paperwork for the pathology department in a bid to keep her boss placated. It seemed the guy wasn't pleased about employing a new forensic pathologist only for her to miss over a month's work. Therefore it sounded like Holly's life was hectic right now. When she was in a more positive frame of mind, Gail could tell herself that was the reason Holly hadn't been in touch. It wasn't that she was doubting their relationship; she was just swamped. Whatever the reason then, Gail didn't dare risk putting more weight onto the brunette's shoulders by calling her. So she would erase the number, put the phone back in her pocket and move on to the next distraction.

Once she was cleared to go back on duty, her first day was wasted because it was spent being grilled by Internal Affairs. The questions around her relationship with Holly were mercifully brief, but she was glad that Ollie had made her go through her version of events a couple of times, because the investigators certainly spent a lot of time questioning her on every single decision. She had answered them honestly, albeit omitting the help she had from Diaz. Eventually they seemed satisfied that she had acted to protect the pathologist from the corruption within the police service, but then they moved onto why exactly she hadn't shared her suspicions with her superiors. Gail had explained that she didn't know who to trust but the investigators hadn't accepted that, informing her that she should have reported it to them. Her heart had sunk at that point, thinking she was going to be disciplined after all. That feeling only got worse when the Inspector in charge of the team asked her to hand over her weapon. She was convinced it was because she was about to lose her job.

However the officer explained that they simply had to do another round of forensic tests because she had fired her weapon at the safe house when she shot the attacker on the stairs. The also asked her to complete another set of formal incident forms relating to that shooting but told her that they would waive the usual mandatory three day suspension, because she had already been off the job for so long. By the end of the interview, Gail was so exhausted from all the questioning that when the team had eventually told her that they wouldn't be pursuing any further action she hadn't believed them at first.

She had walked home that night in a daze. Eventually she found herself sat on her bed, door safely locked and once again her fingers moved automatically to type in Holly's number. Being cleared had finally sunk in and the first person she wanted to tell was Holly. She still hadn't saved the pathologist's number into her own phone, knowing that as soon as she did, it would only take two swipes to make a call and she wouldn't be able to stop herself. And clearly Holly didn't want to hear from her. _But this is different, right?_ she asked herself. _This is a big deal – and we tell each other stuff. She'll want to know!_ Gail's finger hovered closer to the call button, millimetres from touching it but she couldn't shake her disappointment at not hearing from Holly since she returned to Canada. The doubt crept into the voice in her head once more; _maybe she doesn't want to know after all? If she wanted to know, she would have called. She knew you were going to be investigated…if she was interested in the outcome then she would have asked, surely?_

Gail sighed and flopped backwards onto her bed. She held the phone in the air above her face, staring at the lit screen and the tempting green button which her thumb was still lingering over. To her surprise, a solitary tear crept from the corner of her eye and she swept it away furiously. She knew she was being pathetic. This was exactly why all her relationships failed. She moved her hand slightly and firmly tapped her thumb onto the red cancel button instead, before tossing the phone aside. She had expected taking that decisive action would make her feel more in control of the situation but instead the tears started to fall in earnest. She wrapped herself up in the bed covers, not bothering to undress and despite her heartache, mental exhaustion claimed her and she fell soundly asleep.

Now she had been cleared to return, it was easier to engross herself in work in another bid to stop thinking about Holly over the following few days. She did her usual shifts and volunteered for every bit of overtime going until Oliver forcibly dragged her out of Fifteen Division one evening to make sure she did get some sort of rest. By that stage, it had been three long weeks since she had last seen Holly so he also tried to persuade her to ring the pathologist. But the Peck stubborn streak was firmly in place by then so although Gail took Oliver up on the offer of dinner, she ignored his advice before volunteering to give up her day off and work the following day's night shift instead. Nevertheless, Officer Shaw was also made of stern stuff so he made sure that she regretted that decision by assigning her to the booking desk.

So that was why Gail found herself at a desk at ten o'clock at night; another eight hours stretching in front of her with nothing to do apart from paperwork and wrestling the occasional drunk into a cell. All that meant was more time to think about Holly and to stare at her phone, willing it to ring. But unlike the past couple of weeks, she wasn't just waiting for her girlfriend to call.

Earlier on in her shift she had finally cracked with all the negative thoughts running through her mind and she had called Sanderson in a complete panic about Holly. Whilst her fellow cop had been here in the city, she had mostly used him as a distraction but as soon as he left she had wished he was still around to talk to. She could have told him about all these doubts she had. Oliver and Traci were great and she could talk to them but they didn't know Holly that well. They couldn't tell her whether they thought the doctor would want to hear from Gail or not, whether she would be too busy…whether she would be having second thoughts. Sanderson hadn't answered her call though which left her to stew in her thoughts and yell at the idiots in the cells opposite to be quiet.

She was also waiting for news from Steve. Her brother had texted her yesterday telling her that the jury had been let out in the Kolarov trial. Nobody was expecting a verdict today because of the sheer amount of charges and evidence they had to work through. Yet Gail was still hoping to hear some news from Steve, even if it was just his gut feeling on how he thought it would play out.

Therefore when her phone rang, she immediately answered it without even looking at the caller ID. She assumed it was Sanderson and hoped it would be Holly but unfortunately for Gail, it was the third possibility and it was the voice of her rather inebriated brother on the other end instead.

"Hey little sis!" Steve yelled as soon as Gail answered and she could hear the raucous sound of a packed bar in the background.

"What?" she snapped.

"You're not very polite on the phone, you know that?" he asked, almost sounding puzzled.

"I'm not polite in person either," Gail deadpanned.

"Very true," he agreed, before she heard him get distracted by a conversation nearby.

She raised her voice to get his attention. "Steve! What's happening? Any clue of which way they're going to go?" she asked. Steve had been constantly updating her throughout the two week old trial. He was generally pretty pleased with how things had gone; Kate Stewart had apparently been an absolute star on the stand and several gang members had turned against their boss in an attempt to get a lighter sentence. The corrupt IT tech had testified as well and despite the best efforts of the defence team, it seemed to Gail at least that things were looking grim for Kolarov. Steve would never commit to saying they had it won though and Gail could understand that. They were both experienced enough cops to know nothing was ever certain when a case went to trial. So Steve's next statement was a surprise to say the least.

"We got the verdict, Gaily!" he replied and a loud cheer followed his words.

"You're joking!" she said, completely shocked. The elder Peck didn't respond and all she could hear was the sound of hands drumming on a table. "Steve!" she yelled, trying to get him back on the line.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"We won right? Guilty?" she asked. She already knew it was good news judging by the celebrations she could hear but she still wanted Steve to confirm.

"As sin, little sis, guilty as sin! Convicted of all charges, apart from a couple of minor ones. And we've nailed most of his top boys as well. We did it!" he crowed and there was another riotous cheer from whoever he was with.

"Thank God!" she breathed to herself before congratulating her brother. "Well done Detective Peck," she said, smiling at the glee she could hear in his voice. She knew how important this case was to Steve.

"Thanks, Gail. Couldn't have done it without you," he told her.

"So, you're out celebrating? Who are you with?" she asked.

"Everybody! All the team. You should come! I'll pick you up! Come out with us Gail!" he suggested excitedly and she had to laugh.

"How many have you already had? I'm in Toronto, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Well. Never mind then. We'll do something when I get back. And I've only had a few!" he defended himself, but the slight slur in his words told her differently.

"Is Holly there?" Gail asked, wondering if her girlfriend was out celebrating too. She knew how relieved the brunette would be, not just for herself but for her family too. And now the trial had ended, her life could return to normal. Gail knew how keen Holly would be to get back to work and come home after over a month away. And hopefully she would be happy to come back to Toronto for another reason too; to finally see Gail again.

"Nah. Think it would be frowned upon to have the family of our star witness out celebrating with all the cops. She said she was going to have a quiet one with her folks I think," Steve answered and the blonde's face fell a little. She thought that maybe if Holly was there, she might be able to talk to her finally. "Haven't you spoken to her yet?" her brother queried, breaking into Gail's thoughts.

"No. I'll see her when she gets back I guess," the blonde replied.

"Just call her, you dumbass!" Steve groaned and she swore at him. He would have carried on trading insults, but another round of yelling and banging interrupted him.

"Look, I'm gonna get back to the party. Sentencing will be later in the week, I'll let you know, eh?" he said. Gail congratulated him again and was about to hang up when he added "She misses you too, you know?"

She tried to say something else, but her brother had gone so she sat motionless at the booking desk, staring off into space. It was over. The trial was done, Kolarov and his henchmen would be in jail for a long time and Holly and her family were finally safe. The brunette could go back to her home, start work again – just be normal once more. Gail was thrilled, she really was but she couldn't help be a little apprehensive about it too. _How are we going to do this when we're not sharing every day together?_ It had to be a good thing that her girlfriend was no longer under police protection and they could just have a normal relationship. Although could she even still call Holly her girlfriend? She hadn't spoken to her in nearly three weeks! _That's not exactly normal, is it?_ Gail asked herself. Yet Steve had said Holly missed her too.

Not for the first time, her fingers hovered over the dial icon on her phone. She wished Holly would just call her so she'd know where she stood. If Steve was right and the pathologist missed her, then why hadn't she called? Maybe her brother was wrong. Though if Holly didn't miss her and there was something wrong, then surely she would still let her know? She would tell Gail what was going on right? She owed her that much? The cop sighed, all the possibilities running through her mind getting jumbled into one confused mass. She had been waiting for almost three weeks for Holly to contact her. Maybe she should take Steve's advice and do it herself. She tapped out the number from memory and hit the call button before she could talk herself out of it again.

However, the universe chose that moment to intervene and before she even heard a dial tone, the door to the sally port crashed open and Collins and Price bundled a handcuffed guy through it. As the suspect started yelling, Gail groaned and shut off her phone, putting it back into her pocket. As she rose from behind the desk to help her colleagues she had time to ask herself the question that had worried her from the start. _Is this what it's always going to be like_? _Is work still always going to get in our way?_

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"What?" Gail answered the phone in her customary manner.

"Hey, it's me," came the reply and she rolled her eyes.

"I know it's you, Sanderson, I am capable of reading the screen before I answer a call," she told him, scathingly.

"Ah. Still in that 'woe is me' mood I see," replied the Vancouver man and he laughed when Gail growled at him. It had been two days since the trial ended and she still hadn't heard from Holly. After being interrupted that night in the station, she hadn't worked up the courage to ring the brunette herself and so her loneliness and longing had only grown. Sanderson was right; she was feeling very sorry for herself. Worse than that, she couldn't rid herself of the anxiety that had crept in. She was terrified she had already lost Holly before they had really begun and it was eating her up inside.

"I don't want to talk about it, Sanderson, I really don't," she said, cutting him off like every other occasion he had tried to get her to open up since he left.

"That's fine. I'm calling to cheer you up, anyway. Guess where I am?" he asked.

Gail took the phone away from her ear and silently made all the rude gestures she could think of at it. Was she really going to spend her day off playing games with this chump? "At your knitting club?" she suggested when she put the phone back to her ear once more.

"Nope. At the airport," he corrected her.

"Wonderful. Well you watch out for those luggage trollies. They can be complicated and we wouldn't want you injuring yourself again," she said. Sanderson was still off work - she knew it was driving him crazy and referring to it would only wind him up.

Still, the younger officer didn't rise to the jibe, instead asking. "Guess what I'm doing here?"

"Going for a swim? Milking the cows? Meeting up with all your dorky friends to spot planes and write down the numbers in your dorky notebooks?"

"Nope, wrong again. You're terrible at this game," he said.

"This game is terrible," she snapped.

"Okay, one last go. Guess who we just put on a flight back to Toronto?" he queried and she could actually hear his wide grin despite not being able to see his stupid face.

Gail didn't respond even though she knew what he was trying to tell her. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to feel; everything was hitting her all at once; shock, excitement, happiness…fear, nerves and panic.

Her ex-partner got tired of waiting for her to reply however and confirmed it for her. "The Doc of course!" he said excitedly. "She lands about two thirty your time!"

"Two thirty," Gail mumbled, still trying to process this. She knew Holly would be returning soon, but she had assumed the pathologist would wait for sentencing and then maybe spend a bit more time with her family. She thought she had more time to decide what to do.

"Yup. You can thank me later, Peck!" Sanderson told her. "You kids have fun! See you soon," and with that, he ended the call.

"See you," Gail finally said into the long dead line before she dropped the phone onto the table in front of her. She blinked in disbelief.

 _I'm going to see Holly. Holly is coming home today._ She repeated the fact in her head over and over and the more she said it, the more real it became. She finally jumped off the sofa in the frat house like she had been scalded and ran off into her bedroom, nearly crashing into Dov as he strolled down the hallway.

"Hey! What's up with you?" he yelled, but she didn't answer out loud.

Inside her own head however, she screamed it at the top of her voice. _My girlfriend is coming home!_


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Hiya, me again! I know, this is a quick update from me, right? But as this is the last chapter I didn't want to leave it hanging for too long. Before getting on with it though, I do have a couple of things to say!**

 **Firstly, just a massive thank you to everyone single one of you who sent me feedback and comments, whether it be in a public review or a private PM. There's too many people to name. I honestly feel so flattered you took the time to do that and I enjoyed reading all of your thoughts and opinions. Particular applause to those of you who have been reading from the very start as who knew this would turn into a marathon?! When I first had the idea, I thought it could be covered in 40k words, maybe 10-15 chapters. It snowballed, clearly. And it's the longest thing I've ever written. Yikes. So cheers all, it's been a pleasure.**

 **A very special thanks goes to Kravn, who has beta'd this from chapter 11 onwards. Poor girl only sent me a nice message on my grammar and ended up stuck with me for six months – what a star. I'm betting anyone who has read this though will notice there is a clear upturn in quality from that point, and that is solely down to her. Not just for the editing and catching all my tired typos though of course, but also for all the ideas, suggestions, insights and pokes she has given me! 99% of them have worked their way in here and the story is all the better for it; especially the "I think Gail would feel…" bits! Not to mention the "awkward!" markers – seriously, you guys should thank her for making me change those ridiculously long and garbled sentences that she spotted. It gave you a chance to have a clue what I'm talking about at least! She has been an absolute joy to work with throughout and anything that is still a mess or a mistake, well, that's all mine. Kravn; you're a legend – thank you.**

 **Lastly, to answer questions I've already have just in case anyone else is wondering; yup, this really is it, end of story. No plans for a sequel, so I do hope you like where I've left it. There may be a semi-related, quasi-epilogue, final chapter-esque one shot from me in future but we'll see how that turns out. I make no promises! For now, I'm going to go catch up on my reading!**

 **Hope you enjoy the ending. On with the show.**

 **Cheers,**

 **Sam**

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Hours later, Gail found herself pacing back and forth outside Holly's home, wondering why on earth she had thought that this was a good idea. She had initially wanted to go and pick Holly up from the airport but that would have only given her four hours to prepare for seeing her again. And she figured the brunette would be tired and stressed after the early start and flight. So Gail had decided to visit her later, letting her settle in back at home first. She had planned on getting there about seven-ish, but it wasn't even quarter past six when she left her flat, not being able to wait any longer.

However, now that she was finally here, she was struggling to gather up that last bit of courage to knock on the door. She stopped on the street, looking up at the familiar house. Holly hadn't called her in the last three weeks. Would she really be happy to see the cop just show up on her doorstep? She looked down at herself and critically assessed the outfit she had picked out so carefully. _Maybe this is overkill?_ she thought and quickly turned away.

Yet as soon as she did so, she recalled the last time she saw her girlfriend. She remembered the guilt she felt as she turned her back on Holly in the cabin and how her heart had clenched with every small step she took away from her. Then she remembered the rush of elation that hit her when she whirled around and kissed Holly instead. She had never felt such a strong sense of belonging and relief as she did in that moment when Holly wrapped her arms round her and returned her kiss, pouring every last ounce of feeling and soul into it. She wanted that again.

Turning back around to Holly that day was maybe the best decision she had ever made. As she replayed it again, in those few seconds she realised that she would always come back for Holly. No matter how far she ran or how scared she was of being in the damn tree, she would always turn back. Her mind made up, Gail spun around and marched to the door

She rapped decisively on the wood with her knuckles and listened for signs of someone on the other side. As she waited she bounced nervously on the balls of her feet like a boxer warming up for a fight, rocking her head from side to side and puffing out a few breaths from between pursed lips. The door swung open and she swiftly schooled her face into what she hoped was a nice, normal smile.

Holly pulled open her front door without checking the peephole and so when she caught sight of the blonde standing on her doorstep she was completely shocked. She blinked and adjusted her glasses before breaking into a brilliant, beaming smile.

"Gail!" she exclaimed.

"Hey," replied the cop shyly.

"Hi," Holly said, still not quite able to believe that the woman who had consumed her thoughts for the last three weeks was suddenly standing in front of her again.

"Hey," Gail said again. She had spent so long building up to this that the ability to form sentences had deserted her.

"You said that already," the brunette replied, leaning against the door frame and drinking in Gail's presence.

"You know, it sounded familiar," frowned the cop and she shifted her weight from one hip to the other, feeling like an idiot. A repetitive, inarticulate idiot.

Holly ran her eyes down her girlfriend, taking in the figure hugging royal blue dress with the plunging neckline, those flawless legs and the sexiest pair of high heels she had ever seen. "You look…incredible. You're stunning, Gail," she said, stumbling over her words when she couldn't think of a description that would do the blonde justice.

The police officer ducked her head and shook off the compliment. She suddenly thrust out her hand and pushed the bouquet of flowers she was holding towards Holly. "These are for you," she told the brunette. She swallowed hard, trying to fix her suddenly dry throat. She could hear her own heartbeat roaring in her ears and hoped the other woman couldn't hear it too.

Holly took them and gently touched the delicate petals of one of the roses with the tip of one finger. "Thank you," she said with a smile.

"So," Gail started, still feeling nervous. "Is this how you imagined it? You said that you fantasised about finding me on your doorstep; dressed to kill, bringing you flowers and taking you on a date…remember?"

The brunette definitely remembered but even in her wildest dreams she hadn't thought it would be quite like this. Her mental picture had absolutely included a dress, legs, heels and cleavage…though not in such exquisite, perfect detail. More importantly, her imagination clearly wasn't inventive enough to accurately foresee the rush of love and affection that coursed through her at the sight of Gail either. She carefully placed her flowers on top of the coat rack just inside the door. "It's better," she told her in answer to the question. "So much better!"

Gail didn't have time to prepare before Holly launched herself through the doorway and into her arms so their first kiss almost missed the mark, but within a couple of seconds she adjusted her angle and met the brunette in a passionate embrace that left them both feeling weak at the knees. Gail moaned as Holly's soft lips moved against her own, the contact making her tingle. The tingling turned into white hot heat when Holly brushed her tongue against her lower lip and she opened her mouth, immediately granting access. She felt the pathologist's hands cup the back of her neck and pull her closer. Her stomach swooped, settling lower as the flood of arousal consumed her. However they were rudely jerked out of the moment when a passing car honked its horn at them.

Holly leant back slightly and giggled delightedly when she noticed the happiness shining from Gail's eyes. "Almost as embarrassing as getting the porch lights flashed at you, right?" she asked, her arms still wrapped round her girlfriend.

"You had the porch lights flashed at you?" the cop asked, lifting one eyebrow. She forced herself to use the moment to take a few deep breaths and try and slow her pounding heart. She had fully expected their first meeting after all this time to be awkward and shy, and with her stupid initial inability to say anything other than 'hey' it had indeed started off like that. For whatever reason, Holly hadn't called her whilst she'd been away and so she felt incredibly vulnerable coming over here. All the 'what ifs' that had been flying through her mind since Holly left had reappeared all at once on the drive over and she had worked herself into a complete state of anxiety. _What if she's avoiding me…or she's changed her mind about me…or forgotten me?_ _Should I have called first?_ But then as soon as Holly called her stunning, everything had faded away and all she could think about was how crazy she was about this woman. It felt like they had never been apart.

"Hmm. Once or twice maybe," Holly replied. She smiled tenderly at her girlfriend, drinking in every detail of that beautiful face and stroking the skin at the back of her neck with her fingertips. "You cut your hair," she stated, the close cropped style suddenly grabbing her attention.

"Yeah. Not by choice," Gail told her, wrinkling her nose. "It was an unfortunate side effect of them wanting to staple my head back together,"

"I like it," Holly replied, running her fingers over the short, soft hair at the base of Gail's skull. "It suits you," she said; and it did. It wasn't a style she ever would have foreseen Gail going for but it looked good on her.

"You should have seen it to start with. I think the nurse might have used a lawn mower. Still anything's better than a gaping head wound, right?" the police officer asked.

The brunette shuddered slightly and shook her head, moving her hands down to the cop's shoulders and gripping them tightly. "Don't. Don't joke about it. I was so scared when Oliver showed up at the airport,"

Gail acknowledged her inappropriateness with a nod that passed as an apology. "I know. But I'm fine, I promise. It's healing up nicely, so they tell me,"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," she replied. She stared hard at Holly, searching for something behind those dark brown eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked, seriously.

The doctor pondered that one for a moment. "It's been a tough few weeks. But yeah. I'm okay,"

Gail sighed. She wanted to say something reassuring, but her feelings were bursting to be set free and she knew that if she spoke, everything would come tumbling out. So instead she nodded and pulled her girlfriend in for a tight hug.

"I'm definitely okay now," Holly mumbled against her neck.

They stood there for a beat before the cop broke the mood. "So can we go inside? Because I'm supposed to be taking you on a date and I didn't plan on just hanging out in the street,"

Holly laughed and tugged her girlfriend into the house. They stumbled into the kitchen and Gail kicked off her shoes and dropped her bag onto the counter. Holly watched her adoringly as she roamed around the place like she owned it. She had been longing for this woman for what seemed like an eternity and now seeing her casually make herself at home in Holly's kitchen was just perfect. It made the turmoil of the previous weeks fade to grey. The constant pestering of McGregor for news of Gail's injury when she was away. All those days she had spent checking her phone every five minutes, waiting for her cop to call. The uncertainty she felt whenever she was around Steve, wondering whether to ask about his sister. The excitement of finally getting on that plane back home to Toronto and the depth of disappointment when there was no blonde waiting there for her. Holly had been determined to track Gail down today once she had grabbed some lunch, had a nap and taken a shower; she was going to head down to the station and start there, having never been to Gail's home. But then her plans were tossed out the window with that knock on her door and the unbelievable joy of finding her girlfriend on the other side.

The reunion had started off a little shaky, but a bunch of flowers and a searing kiss had quickly changed that. And now Holly stood there, overwhelmed with joy and biting her lip slightly to avoid blurting out how much she loved this beautiful, strange, spiky, strong woman in front of her. It was too soon, despite what Oliver had said to her that day at the airport. Instead, she recalled their time apart and how difficult everything had seemed: the trial, the constant police presence and trying to stay up to date with her work load. It didn't make sense that it was more challenging and stressful than the previous months under guard and especially their time on the run. Yet Holly knew that there was something missing; something that made all the difference in the world. Gail hadn't been with her and her heart had ached for the blonde's presence, which made everything seem that little bit harder.

"God I missed you," she said quietly.

The blonde turned from where she was poking through the cupboards looking for wine. Tequila was all well and good on most occasions, but this was supposed to a romantic evening.

"I missed you too," she replied, her voice perhaps more tender than Holly had ever heard before.

The brunette's smile faltered a little, wondering whether she would ruin things by bringing it up but deciding she had to ask. "Then why didn't you call?"

Gail nearly dropped the bottle of red she had found. _What?_ _Holly was waiting for me to call her?_ "Why didn't you call me?" she asked indignantly.

"Honey, I didn't have your number," Holly told her. "I only had your work phone – the one that was tapped,"

Gail gaped at her. She hadn't even considered that. This was ridiculous. She had been desperately waiting to hear from the brunette…and Holly had been doing the same thing? Because she didn't have her number? _For fuck's sake_ _!_ "You could have asked!" she said, thoroughly exasperated. "Steve would have given it you! Or Sanderson!"

"I know, but I was out of the country for a while. Then when I came back I didn't know how open you could be with the whole IA thing hanging over your head. And I was worried they might be listening in on my calls again," she explained, starting to babble a little as she tried to clarify her thought process. "I wanted to ask Steve and Scott when he came back, but I just didn't know if you'd be okay with me talking to them about you! And then when you didn't call me, I thought maybe…maybe you were having second thoughts….?"

"What?" Gail exclaimed, completely flummoxed by the fact that Holly had experienced the exact same doubts she had. However, her girlfriend misunderstood the surprise for annoyance and quickly tried to apologise.

"I know, I'm sorry, but you didn't call me either! And I know you would have known my number, because of that whole Rain Man thing you've got going on!"

"I wanted to call you…" Gail started to laugh, recognising how stupid they had both been.

"So why didn't you?" the brunette queried, finally realising that for some reason Gail was amused, not annoyed.

"Well I was in the hospital while you were away. Then when you came back, I wanted to give you some time to settle in. I knew you were at the trial every day, then Steve told me you were working in the evenings and supporting your sister… I just figured you had enough on your plate. I didn't want to be a nuisance and add more pressure, you know?" the cop explained, her justification sounding silly even to herself.

"Gail, I would have loved to hear from you. You will never be a nuisance to me," Holly said, her tone serious. She moved over to where her girlfriend stood, wanting a physical connection to prove how sincere her words were. She stroked Gail's back as the blonde poured two glasses of wine.

The police officer poured slowly and turned the bottle as she finished, careful not to spill a drop. "I guess I got a little worried when you didn't call me. I did the same thing you did– I started to think maybe you'd changed your mind too,"

Holly shook her head. "Not a chance," she assured her.

"Me neither. Just so you know," Gail said, wanting Holly to know that she felt exactly the same as when they parted. "I don't ever want to be like a cat with you, Holly," she said seriously. "I don't want to get scared and run,"

Holly nodded, remembering the conversation they had shared all those weeks ago when Gail had told her that weird analogy about being a cat stuck in a tree when it came to relationships. "I'll try not to scare you," she promised. "I thought maybe that was why you didn't call too and I was kicking myself,"

"What do you mean?" asked the cop, not understanding.

"I thought perhaps you had gotten scared. So I wanted to check up on you but I didn't want to put pressure on you and scare you away even more," the brunette explained.

"You do scare me a little bit," Gail admitted. "But in a good way. In a way that makes me not want to be scared,"

"I was just worried that Oliver told you what I said to him and that had freaked you out…" Holly suggested slowly, watching for Gail's reaction but the blonde simply frowned, not knowing what she was referring to. The pathologist breathed a sigh of relief. At her lowest point over the past three weeks, she had sat in her old room at her parent's house, a text message already typed up and ready to send to Sanderson asking for Gail's number. But before she could send it, she suddenly thought of yet another reason Gail might not have called. What if Oliver had told Gail all about their conversation at the airport? He had said that she should tell Gail herself that she loved her but if he had mentioned it, then maybe it had terrified her girlfriend so much that she had run away. Holly knew the blonde was incredibly guarded; it had taken weeks to break down her walls. And although she knew Gail's feelings for her were deep, she probably wasn't quite in the same place. So Holly had already decided to hold back on that until Gail was completely ready to hear it but if Oliver had already let it slip….

"What did you tell Ollie?" asked the blonde, still confused.

"It doesn't matter," Holly said, breathing a sigh of relief. So Gail hadn't been frightened off by the strength of her feelings. It was all just a stupid mix up; both of them waiting for the other and giving in to their insecurities too easily. She shook her head in self-disgust before speaking up again to try and draw a line under those horrible weeks. "Okay. Can we just agree that we're both idiots then and move on?" the pathologist asked, wrapping her arm round Gail's waist.

"Deal," replied the blonde. She handed Holly a glass and they clinked them together to seal the agreement.

Holly sipped her wine and gave Gail a quick kiss on the cheek before moving away and turning to lean against the counter. "So, you said something about a date?" she hinted, wondering what her girlfriend had planned.

"Yup. We've got reservations at eight, so you'd better get ready," Gail answered. Holly was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a loose top that hung off one shoulder. She was barefoot and her hair was casually pinned up in a loose bun at the back of her head, leaving that glorious neck bare. She guessed that wherever Holly had been sent under witness protection, the weather was good because the doctor's bronzed skin tone definitely had the hint of a deeper tan now. She wondered if that tan was all over, before shaking herself out of that thought. As much as Gail appreciated the outfit, she thought her girlfriend would probably want to change into something slightly less casual without having her clothes torn off her.

"Let me put my flowers in water," Holly said. She walked back into the hallway and collected the abandoned bouquet, then busied herself filling a vase with water and cutting the stems back.

Gail sipped her wine as she watched her girlfriend happily arrange the flowers, humming away to herself as she did so. She had never bought anyone flowers before and although a few guys had bought her bunches in the past, she didn't get the point until now. She was finding a lot of things were different with Holly, despite the fact they had only been officially together for a month of which most of that time was spent apart. Gail constantly thought of the brunette and had this strong compulsion to make her smile. It popped into her mind a hundred times a day. There were times where she would walk past a bakery and wonder whether Holly would like it; she would hear a joke and would remind herself to tell Holly later; or she would notice an exhibition at a museum and would think that Holly would like to see it. And now she knew the pathologist seemed to love receiving red roses, Gail was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to go past a florist without feeling the urge to buy her some.

 _Was this what love felt like?_ she asked herself. She knew she had fallen head over heels for the brunette and that was why she consumed her every waking thought. She remembered that once she had finally told Holly how she felt, she had been filled with an unbelievable lightness that obliterated the nerves and caution that had plagued her. It was exactly like today; she couldn't think why she had been so nervous about coming here earlier because as soon as she saw Holly, she knew this was where she was meant to be. She had told Oliver weeks ago that she thought she might be in love. During her time apart from Holly, she had tried to push that feeling away but it had only grown stronger. Then upon seeing her girlfriend today, her feelings threatened to overwhelm her. She took another sideways glance at the beautiful woman standing beside her, arranging rose stems in her vase. Oliver had told her she should sing her love from the rooftops. She hadn't been sure she was ready for that exactly but now that Holly was in front of her, the urge to blurt it out was almost irresistible. Instead she settled for leaning over and placing a delicate kiss on her bare shoulder. The blonde was immediately rewarded with a surprised gasp and Holly's dazzling smile. Gail couldn't stop herself from grinning broadly and hoped that it conveyed what she felt in her heart even though she was too shy to say it.

"I can't quite believe that we're allowed to just go out," Holly mused as she gave the arrangement a last critical once over. "No security, nobody watching. Just us,"

"Are you worried that it'll be weird? I could ring McNally and get her to sit at the next table?" Gail smirked.

The doctor smacked her on the shoulder. "Don't you dare! It won't be weird. It'll be like being free again," she said, smiling as she linked one of her hands with Gail.

"Crazy, eh?" Gail grinned back. Her face was starting to hurt from all this happiness, which was definitely not something she'd experienced before.

"I just can't believe it," the pathologist said again, "Steve told us that we're in the clear, something about the gang falling apart? But I still feel like I should be watching over my shoulder, like it's not safe,"

"Are you scared?" the blonde asked, concerned.

Holly considered that for a moment. "A little. It's hard to turn that off, you know?"

Gail squeezed tighter on the hand she was still holding. "Yeah, I get that. But Steve's right. Kolarov and most of his top boys are locked up and apparently the gang is imploding. A few distant relatives have tried to take over but all that's happened is a lot of infighting. Ross Stone's team in Vancouver said there's already other gangs moving in on the Kolarov turf. They're too busy trying to save what little they have left to mount some sort of revenge. Besides Kate isn't top of the list; they would go for the traitors in the ranks first," the cop explained, wanting her girlfriend to know everything and hoping it would comfort her somewhat.

Holly dropped her head onto Gail's shoulder. "Thanks, honey," she whispered, grateful for the reassurance. She trusted the official judgement of the police service in releasing her family from protection but it would still take a while to get out the mind set of being hunted. Hearing it from Gail helped more because she knew her girlfriend wouldn't dream of telling her to relax unless she was convinced they were safe. The cop took her safety far too seriously for that.

The blonde's heart flipped when she heard that term of endearment again. She lifted her hand to gently tip Holly's face towards her own and kissed her softly.

The pathologist smiled as the broke apart. "Mmm. You know, we could just have our date here?" she suggested, running her hands over Gail's hips. "Do some more of that maybe?"

Gail caught her wrists lightly to stop any further roaming and lifted her eyebrows. "No way, nerd. The fantasy was me taking you out, remember? I am not wasting this dress," she scolded.

"It's definitely an outfit that should be shown off," the brunette agreed, making sure she ran her eyes down the length of Gail's body as her hands were being held captive.

"Exactly. So I'm going to wine and dine you. We've never been on a real date and I want to do this properly. Then once you're suitably wooed, maybe we can come back here and carry on with your plan…" the cop proposed, a cheeky glint in her eyes.

"I'll hold you to that," Holly warned her.

"No problem. So go get ready!" Gail said, giving her girlfriend a little nudge in the direction of the stairs.

"Yes, officer. But you're coming with me!" Holly ordered, tugging the blonde by the hand as she walked across her kitchen.

"You want me to watch you get ready?" Gail laughed, dragging her heels a little.

"Not watch me in a creepy way, you lunatic! Just hang out whilst I get changed. I haven't seen you for three weeks, I don't want to waste another half hour," the doctor told her.

Gail shrugged and grabbed the bottle of wine in her free hand while she let herself be pulled up the stairs. "That's not exactly conventional, is it?" she mused

"When has anything we've done in this relationship been conventional?" asked the brunette, throwing a raised eyebrow over her shoulder at the woman following her.

Gail thought about that. "True," she acceded. "So is it still fun getting dressed?" she wondered as her brain went off on a tangent.

"What do you mean?" Holly queried as they stepped into her room. She let go of the cop's hand and made her way over to the closet.

"Well, the most fun part of a date is getting dressed. I mean, how's that work if it's two girls getting dressed together?"

"I don't know; how does it work with a guy?" Holly scoffed slightly as she flipped through some hangers.

"If you live together he gets dressed first and then…you…get dressed. It's very stupid, stupid question," the cop replied, shaking her head at the rubbish coming out of her own mouth as she sat down on the bed. Every time she had imagined being asked up to Holly's room, she had seen herself being a lot smoother than this.

"Uh huh," Holly agreed, rolling her eyes and smirking as she looked over at the blushing blonde. Gail was lucky she was adorable when she was embarrassed. She pulled out a shirt from the closet and inspected it, deciding it was smart enough to match Gail's spectacular dress. She sauntered over to the bed, took the bottle of wine from Gail and took a swig before pushing the blonde over onto her back. She handed back the bottle then pulled her glasses off, folded the arms inwards and placed them on the bedside table her. She didn't miss the fact that Gail's eyes followed her every movement.

"I'm getting changed. No staring at me like that, okay? Or we'll never get out of here in time for dinner," she told her, raising her eyebrows.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Gail agreed. "How well can you see without your glasses anyway?" she asked casually.

"Oh don't worry, I'll put some contacts in. I'm not going to be blinking at you across the table," Holly told her.

The cop nodded airily, pleased that Holly had missed the point of the question. She then proceeded to sneakily watch Holly get dressed from every angle she possibly could. She definitely shouldn't have worried earlier; getting dressed with a girl was far more fun than with a guy. In fact, it was sweet torture. Sleeping with Holly on their last night together was one of the best moments of her life and she wouldn't change it for the world but it had made these past weeks even harder. She had replayed it in her mind over and over until it was indelibly burned into her conscious. So then not only had she had the aching longing in her heart but her libido just wouldn't quit either. Her body had craved Holly's touch and watching the brunette getting ready for their date was very nearly tipping her over the edge. She caught glimpses of naked skin and for one heart stopping moment, a glorious expanse of bare legs as Holly changed her pants. It was all she could do to not grab her girlfriend and throw her across the bed; to hell with their reservations. Yet she managed to restrain herself, knowing there was plenty of time for all that later. For now, she could just revel being in Holly's company again and the feeling of all being right with the world once more.

Half an hour later, Holly put the finishing touches to her hair. She swivelled round on the low stool in front of the dresser to face the blonde who was lying on her stomach across her bed, chin propped in her hands. Gail had been telling her everything that had happened in the past few weeks; how she'd been cleared by IA and the trouble she and Sanderson got into during their time off work. In return, she had told Gail about being away with her family and then the trial; how brilliant Kate had been and the relief when the guilty verdict came back. Throughout the conversation, she knew Gail had been watching her every move; the blonde wasn't exactly subtle and Holly had spotted her staring even before she put her lenses in.

She leaned in to place a soft kiss on the cop's lips. "All done," she said.

Gail grinned and rolled over onto her back, pushing herself off the bed. "Come on then," she said, walking out the doors. "Times a'ticking!"

By the time Holly grabbed her heels and a handbag and strolled down the stairs, the blonde was waiting by the front door for her.

"So, are you ready, Dr Stewart?" she asked, taking in the magnificent sight of her girlfriend descending the stairs in a dressy black and white shirt, tight black pants and high heels.

"More than ready, Officer Peck," Holly said as she reached the bottom of the staircase and dropped a quick kiss on Gail's waiting lips.

"Will you go on a date with me?" the cop asked, thinking she should probably officially ask seen as she had essentially turned up tonight and simply told Holly they were going out. She held out her hand expectantly.

The brunette pretended to consider the offer but couldn't keep it up for long. "You don't even need to ask. I can't wait to go out with you. How about a thousand dates?" she asked.

"Hmmm. We'll start with a thousand and see how we get on I guess," Gail teased. "Cos you know, we might be completely incompatible,"

Holly laughed, knowing that nothing could be further from the truth. "You're insane, you know that right?" she asked, taking the outstretched palm.

Gail nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah. But you love it," she declared, shrugging her shoulders in a casual attempt to hide the deeper meaning behind that statement.

Yet the pathologist didn't miss it of course. As her girlfriend led her out the front door, Holly squeezed the hand she held in her own, making Gail turn slightly to look her directly in the eye. She smiled to confirm the unspoken message between them and answered her with complete sincerity.

"I do. I really do."

* * *

 **The End :)**


End file.
